The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-14
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
PAMTHEISM!
lT1oNAI LOCAL ITEMS SEE INSIDE PAsEs.I


Science as Atheism, and Announces
Divers Strange Theories about Man
and his Creator.
Concert Hall has been seized upon by the
spirits, and devoted henceforth to the eiucida
ton of the dogmas by which they hope at no
distant day to upset the established order Of
things in this world, precipitate the conflict of
Armageddon, and bring about o new spiritual
istic state of affairs generally. Such OF the
spirits par excellence as are still incommoded by
tabernaces of flesh and bones, are accustomed
to coDgregate here every Sunday morning and
evening, to listen 10 the new dispensation as
promulgated by those happier spirits who have
acquired larger liberty and a more ethereal
ized existence by shufling off their mortal
coils. Yesterday morning, as our readers will
doubtless remember, the weather was oppres.
sively warm, and the spirits suffered their due
proportion of vexaton. Not more than two
hundred of them were in conditi on which
warranted them in appearing in public. These
we're timely present, aud the platform was occu
pied by these gentlemen, the central one being
the main attraction. The superHuous chairs
about dozen in number, we're for the accom-
modatlon of disembodied spirits of note. Such
is our conjecture, at least, and we are unable to
account for their beggarly array on any other
hypothesis.
A QUESTION OF IDENTITY
was raised at the outset, to perplex the un-
splritualistic attendants on these seances. Mr..
Thomas Gales Forster was the orator,
or mouthpiece of the occasion. Mr..
Forster is a well-preserved gentleman OF
about fifty years, with a very benign counte-
tenance, high forehead, tuft of hair
much in the Cape-Cod Die kens style, aud short
grey beard. As an orator, he is q man of no mean
pretensions, being gifted with plentiful supply
OF words of the most momentous length, and OF
the most perplexing Specification, aud speaking
with great unction, aud at times with such un.
eontrolable vehemence that he is apt to get into
rhetorical tangle.
But we were led 10 believe that Mr.. Forster
afable and eloquent as he is, was OF out slight
importance. The words which he let fail were
not his words, the wierd doctrines which he
promulgated were not his doctrines, the extended
5noWiedge OF the neo9lar hypothes.s which he
Q. Dayton, an English savan with whose name
and great repute we were then first made faml-
liar, was the source of all. Professor Dayton
is, technically speaking, dead; spirtualistcally
speaking, he has merely escaped from the en-
cumbrance of the body, and is now figuring
upon the broad stage OF the spirit world. 10
say the least, he must have been very clever
man in his day, or else since his demise has
been fortunate in securing access to all the
constantly accumulatlng treasures OF science.
Using the eloquent lips of Mr. Forster, then as
medium, Pro essor Dayton proclaims to the
world divers things, with many of which the
world is already familiar, while not a few of
them paItake decidedly OF startling and novel
aspect;
While the choir was engaged in displaying its
vocal requirements, MIR. Forster was occupied
In falling into trance As soon as the musical
exercises were concluded, that gentleman arose,
closed his eyes, screwed up his face into any
thing but splrituast,c state, pulled out his
white observation-disclosures began forth with.
ST. PAUL PRocLAIMs TeE sPIRITUALIsrlc CREED.
The Speaker commenced by stating the fact
that the theological, world had deemed 1t proper
to assert that Sp,ritualism aud Panthelsm are
one and the same thing. This outrageous i'm
putation he proposed to reiute, and he wonld
accomplish it by selecting text from one of the
great apostles OF Christianity.
He then read-rectted, rather-the following
words from the sixth verse Of the fourth chapter
OF st. Paufs Epistle TO the Ephesiaas:-
lone God and Father of all, who Is above all,
and through all, and in you all"
The trance-speaKer then proceeded at con-
siderable length to inquire into the panthesm
OF st. Paul and of spirituallsm, and to show how
that OF the latter was OF no greater enormity
than that OF the former. He stated that the
most highly developed seer OF the present day,
Mr.. Davis-not Jefferson, of the late Confede-
racy, we imagine; but Andrew Jacksoz, OF the
Harmonic Coronation" school of Philosophy
has said that there can be
NO LINE OF DIVISION
between philosophy, religion, science, spirit
uallsm, and several other things OF which we
did not distinctly catch the titles. Before the
developments OF modern science the Judean
literature is continually paling, while the in
more fully sustained. In short. 1t is gradually
establishing something legitimate and tangible
with regard to the future state of man.
Mr.. Forster then touched upon what he styled
'the development theory" but what, to our
mind, would more appropriately be denominated
TIE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS
The whole array of worlds, he declared in
the beginning existed in one vast molten mass.
without form and void Science has maintained
that all matter in the universe is made up of
certain elements which cannot be resolved into
simpler forms. But, from the spiritualistic
standpoint, it is philosophical fact that matter
Is of one and the same element everywhere, and
hat these so called elements are but combina-
tions of this primordial form of matter, which
may as readily exist on other globes as on our
own. This primordial element has been un-
folded and manipulated by some supreme
power, for the inhabitation of human races, in
the multitudes of worlds which everywhere
shine in the galaxy, and float upon the sea OF
harmony.
After proceeding at some length in this strain
we do not pretend to give Mr.. Forster's
exact words. except those which are most
remarkable for their length or grandiloquence-
the speaker arrived at the rather discouragng
conclusion that, despite the researches Of
science and the enlightenment of disembodied
spirits, the eternity OF the past is as impenetrable
as the eternity of the future, to the finite
mlnd. he then reviewed again the origin of
the stellar and planetary worlds, the spiritu-
ailsue knowledge of Professor Dayton develop.
ing, at TINS portion of the duplicate discourse
hotning that was positively new or startling.
ADAM NOT THE FIRST MAN BY ANY MEANS.
Mr.. Forster then cited the recent discoveries
OF human remains in this country which the
learned Agassiz has declared, tro n the accumu.
lation OF earth above them. could not he, ,beeu
habllitated with flesh aud propelled " spirits
less than ten thousand years ago. These disco.
Verles must forever settle the theologiaus aud