The Portland daily press., 1871-11-20

IS CHRISTIANITY A FAILURE?

ID CHhlS1lANiI A AlLOhEs
Mr.. A. T. Foss, of Manchester, N. H., known
as the "Great Expounder," delivered an adj
dress before the Portland Spiritual Associa-
ton, at Temperance Ball, yesterday afternoon.
The speaker announced as the theme of Ais
discourse, the question, SIS Christianity fail
ure?' Commencing with the startling state
ment that Jesus Christ was never Christian,
he proceeded for nearly an hour to riducule
and deny every essential doctrine of Christian
ity and the Bible and arrived at last at an af-
firmative answer to the proposed question:
The entire address was characterized by the
vilest denunciation and Misrepresentation of
everything sacred, including all the various re.
ligous denominations which he held up to the
riducule of his audience.
WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS IN A
SICK ROOM.
At Army and Navy Union Hall yesterday
afternoon, before very large audience, Hon.
George w. Woodman described some of the
remarkabl spiritual manifestation witnessed
himself and others during the last spring
and summer in the sickroo of N. M. Wood
man. There were nine witnesses in all; some
times two or three were present at one time,
sometimes more. On the oath of March Mr..
N. NJ. Woodman fell through the scuttles OF
his store on Commercial street, distance of
| twenty three feet, and striking upon bale of
material below was found an hour afterward s
in an insensible condition. He was taken
home, when physicians were summoned, who
pronounced the injuries fatal and death irev-
table. We give some extracts from notes Of
Mr.. Woodman's address; prefacipg the MARIA
tive with the remark that he spoke an hour
| and half and was listened to with much in
| terest.
| Mr.. Woodman stated that Nathan 1--WE call
| him so to distinguish him from the speaker)
| laid in an insensible condition for seven hours
when the physicians arrived at their opinion.
His ribs were wrenched from their place. the
| spine was twisted. but not separated, and one
| of the large intestines removed from its place
| SO that there was no passage from the stomach
| La this condition he could only live fourteen
| days He lay until the evening of the 9th,
| unable to move in his bed, and part of the time
partially unconscious ATT o'clock, on the
| evening of the 9Th, in the presence of Dr..
Hopkins a healing medium, N latham raised
| himself upright in bed and spoke through the
| shirt which bad him 10 control:-"I am terri
blv iuiured and something must be done. 1t
must be done within forty eight hours or you
will see the necessity of it." This was repeat
ed on Wednesday following and the njuris
described de or And the spirits, spt aking through
the,controlling influence, said, Nov friends,
| lot the mowers present handle him., aud be
was ri raised from the bed, and the voices pre-
scbed Pousce w csTau non wa on QUESTS tire
to,., h,,t II mnst not remain over an hour and
tan tam minutes inn The poultics was applied under
the directions of the spirits, the bed tucked up
and the natient left sleeping The room was
waited, and at the close OF two hours the WE WI
entered the room and found the bed updls,
the ponltice gone. 1t was found ten ieet dis
tant nicely pinned up.
The speaker went on to say that the patlenl
was examined, through the medium, by DIS.
w ilbur Prussiap, and2 Lerow Ffenchman.
Inc power in charge was female relative call
ed Amanda, all of whom are long since dead,