The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-12-01
Terms $500 per annuns, In adra,,ce.

Intimate friend and must be a reliable sourca
from which to obtain information as to her
character and accomplishments. It will be
read with more or less sympathy according to
the degree of faith in her as an oracle, which
exists already in the mind of the reader. We
frankly confess that TO us, Planchette has new
er accredited herself as a messenger OF the
gods, nor yet as an amanuensis OF the spirits.
st'h we do not insist upon an agreement In
opinion on the part of those who having
Uo,0'eo long and patient attention to her, hon
esuS eoos'oer her worthy of psychology of
her own The Manifestations occnrring In
our presence nave either been devoid Of ALI
posit.veness, or so tInged with the ,ndiv,arot.
ity Of the medium as to divest them of yalpa
in a Planchettian light. We have heard. how
ever as all our friends have done, Of marvel.
lous instances OF second sight, of retrospect
i've revelations aud all other exploits by which
admiriug audiences have been impressed. 1t
Is customary in discussing spiritualism, table
tipping, Planchetteomancy and kindred top
les, for the believer to confront the non-believ-
er with fierce demand for same other con-
else explanation of the phenomena concerned,
if he is unwilling to believe in the interyen-
tion OF spirits. Not infrequently it is insisted
that the only alternative lies between "spirits"
and "humbug." For ourselves we absolutely
refuse to perch on either horn of this dilem-
M, and contumaciously insist on retaining
both our incredulity as to "spirits" and our po-
liteness as to "humbug." We prefer 70 listen
deferentially to the "well-authenticated" tales
OF Planchette's e prescience and to look blandly
upon her numerous and often highly ludicrous
failures. If she is, as has OF late been assert
ed an ancient Chinese toy, we hope to see
some spirited translation of her performances
in the Flowery Kingdom when dinner of
rats had thoroughly prepared an imaginative
Chinaman for an evening with Plancbetts.
In the Diary before US are set down the re-
suits of a number of experiments with Plau-
chette, made under a variety of circumstances,
In different localities and with different assist
ants to the chief performer, Miss Field. With
few exceptions the account is confined to
her personal knowledge either as a medium or
as an eye witness. The demonstrations of the
instrument have been, under her manifesto
ton, characterized by the greatest huency
and by an obliging Willingness on the part Of
Planchette, to preach, which Is no more than
fair reward for the patient votaress who has
been devoted enough to spend two or three
hours at time in tste-d-tete with her divini-
ty. Naturally enough most of her special COM
munications were too private for general cir
culation-but others are run together on .
thread of narrative and will compare favorably
with the experiments which have taken place
in our own community. The value of the
opinions expressed by the spirits upon nun.
dane matters is perhaps open to question, but
we unhesitatingly commend the astronomical
theory. of pages % and 30 as especially attrac.
tive during the excessively wintry weather.
The politics little farther on, are also unex-
ceptionable. As to the matrimonial views we
suspect slight sarcasm, and so wash our
hands of them. The last pages Of the bro
chstre are devoted to the Natural History of
Planchette;" and quotations are made from
several different authors on the subject
Among these the remarks of DIR. Hare are cer-
tainly the most abstruse and difficult of COM
prehension, and those OF the philadelphia
Universe" (what an awe-inspiring, subscrip-
tion-compelling name tor newspaper) are
by all odds the most spicy and decisive. The
Editor of the Diary, summing up, pro-
nounces Planchette "a contradictory incon-
ceivable" and if we may be allowed to reckon
her exploits by the number OF victims who
have fallen under her thrall as she has swept
like small whirlwind across the sea and over
the land-we may possibly subscribe to tina.
opinion. Meantime she owes her thanks 10
Miss Field for giving form and sequence to
her lucubratons and obtaining for her posi-
ton in the literary world NJ j. MS.