Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-11-02

appeal: l nave often heard
Of mediums, s~Piritualists, and the
many wonders they performed, and l
had q desire 10 attend one of their
meetings and allow my own judg-
ment to decide on their manifesto
tons, whether it is common iugglery,
legerdemain, etc, or whether some
spirit of the dead were really called
up and would give a plain statement
regarding the future state of man or
not. \ meeting was held a few nights
ago at a private residence in the city,
and l being invited, attended. The
party with. whom l attended was
somewhat iOvial, discussing all the
while the manifestations that we soon
would witness, though we were fully
impressed with the solemnity due the
occasion, and guarded Alright the
thought of a future existence, as well
As the respect we entertained for the
living and the love we cherish for the
dead. On arriving we were indicted
into the room where were seated sew
cr3l ladies and gentlemen, waiting
patiently for the appointed hour to
arrive. In the room was q small Ia
bic, upon which lay a guitar, several
SINAI bells, a ring, etc, instruments
to he used by the spirits. The lights
all being put out, l dreamed of dreams
no mortal ever dared to dream before.
IN that short space of time ere the
sign OF a spirit Of the dead being in
The rOom. l am decidedly an intideI
to anything offered by that sO-called
medium, and must say, for aught eX-
hiDited on that occasion, she NAV be
estjugglers that ever
visited our city. And to make il
worse, to have such trickery called
medIumistic powers, and claims of
being gifted by the Divine as one sent
into the world to instruct and make
mankind better. Though the rose
would smell as sweet by anv other
name, perhaps she "a perform as
sharp tricks by the name OF iugglerv.
legerdemain, etc, as well as she can
by being called a medium" It Is
very strange indeed how such a being
can be allowed 10 live in practicing
such solemn mOckery; and It's more
strange how a civilized community
VIII co~untenance anything of the kind.
4.
Having had a similar opportunity
OF witnessing a scene such as that al
luded to by our correspondent, we
must concur that we have seen, heard
or felt, nothing which could not be
accounted for more readily on the
suppOsition of natural than unnatural
causes. Admit the reality of the
strangest phenomena, and yet the
hirest presumption is that the cause,
though undiscovered to us, exists in
nature. Why should we seek super
natural, until we have first inquired
alter natural causes, and at least seen
something done in broad daylight,
which Jugglers cannot do? The afir-
nation that certain phenomena is the
work Of " spirits" can at the most be
nothing better than conjecture. Put
4 conjecture against that, that the
cause Is an undiscovered, or to the
agent, a discovered natural one. and
what then? Is not one conjecture as
the other, and a little more so?
some people are so fond of hobgoblins
they prefer to give undue credit
% the ghosts. But the fact that chill
iren have an idea that some mysteri-
'us or dangerous power turks in the
darkness and about graveyards and
mediums" furnishes a poor reason
men with brains in their heads
hOuld run mad with the same silly
In a London paper an ac-
cunt Of trial is given, in which it =
important to one of the par !:
rs TO prove that "spiritism is a
A jeweller, mot Mr.. MERRI- I,
AM was introduced as a witness, :
was compelled by the court on
ath 10 state what he knew. He tes- :
fed that he was the maker of ehairs, :
iDles and other furniture, in which .
e piaeed and concealed wires and :
brings, with which, and by electric '
" the most astonishing feats and Z
henomena were produced. Whether Il
Re a" medium" of whom u cores !.
ondent speaks, operates in a similar u
-anner, does not appear. So long as a
light Is hid T" under a bushel," and /"
manipulatiOns and revelations can II
ny be performed in the dark. proh- y
'ly we shall not make the discovery o,