Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-10-29
WONDERS OF MAGIC.

crate articles IN an English periodica
IN support of the claim that the physi.
cal phenomenon called spiritualistic j:
produced by spirits which once inhabi.
ted human bodies. Many marvellous
things are reported almost daily of this
spirit manifestation. A few years age
nothing more startling than raps and
table-tipping was produced, but now we
are asked to believe. not only that me-
dlums like Hpna- -alnna~1~ xi-.--a -aA--
from Sax TO eleven feet, carry red-hot
Goals in their hands without injury, and
float visibly in the air, but that the 'spir-
its can 'materialize' themselves 80 as to
become the solid flesh and bone that
they were in this life. Nav, more: Col
onel Olcott, clear practical law.
yer and gentleman of unimpeachable
yeracity, who is at Chittenden, VI, in
vestigating the alleged phenomena pro-
duced by the Eddy mediums, telegraphs
to New York in triumph that he has
succeeded in catching one of the spirits
"a female one, and weighing her on
Fairbanks scales.
Now, all this from Messrs. Wallace,
Crooks, and Varley, from Colonel OIL.
colt, from Philadelphia, Moravia, N
T., and other places haunted by mate
rialized spirits, and from persons who
have sat with Slade, Foster, and Mans
field is very wonderful, but is it conclu-
sive proof that the claims of Spiritual
ism are right! What if it can be shown
that phenomena quite as extraordinary
have been produced by professional Jug
glers, men who have made no pretence
that they were assisted by occult pow
ers, and who have explained the mechan-
ism of their tricks! If this can be done
the Inference must necessarily follow
either that the Spiritualistic mediums
are cunning impostors or that the pro-
fessional necromancers are liars when
they declare that their phenomena are
mere trickerys and that they are really
assisted by supermundane agents. All
history Is full of the deceptions prac-
tised either by these professional char
acters or of others who pretended to su-
pernatural powers, and were subsequent
y exposed as charlatans. Jugglery was
allied to the ancient religions of the
Greeks, Romans. Egyptian, and Chal-
deean. Hellas had its oracle, with its
cunning priesthood; Rome its augurs
and diviners, and Chaldee its ,world-re-
Hor7ied nl:t.,iciaus. Tn the aa-l- s-.,~o OF
Europe there were enchanters, sorcer-
ers, and astrologers, and, little later,
witches, who had to have their coniury
burned and drowned out of them. The
Tha,maturSists and Rosicrucians pre-
tended to magical powers. There is not
an age in the. worlds recorded past,
hardly q var even, that some prestidi-
gitatenr has not figured on the scene.
either rs court aPpendage, religious
leader, or an actor performing for the
amusement of the populace. Let the
Davenport Brothers or DIR. Slade do
more than is related here, and then they
will have right to ask us, to consider
if the phenomena they show are the
works of spirits
In the Lives Of the Necromancers,'
by William Goodwin Loudon, 1870.
there is an account of a coniurer at the
Court of Wenceslaus. King of Bohemia
and afterwards Emperor of GERMANY
On one occasion this person, Zitto by
name, exhibited his extraordinary skill
to the court. He showed himself first
in his proper shape and then in those
of different persons successfully. with
countenances and a stature totally Diff
ferent from his own. At one time he
was splendidly attired in robes of pur-
pie and silk, and then in the twinkling
of an eye in coarse linen and clownish
coat of frieze.
In the same volume sketch is given
Of DIR. Lamb, Il noted necromanccr in
the time of Charles the First The cell
ebrlted Richard Baxter is authority for
the statement that Lamb. meeting two
of his acquaintance in the street and
they having expressed II desire to wit
ness some example of his skill. he invi-
ted them home with him He then
conducted them into an inner room.
when. presently, to their no small sur
prise. they saw tree spring up in the
middle of the apartment. They had
scarcely ceased wondering ut this phe-
nomenon when, in a moment, there APP
peared three diminutive men, with lit
tie axes in their hands for the purpose
of cutting down this tree. The tree
was felled and the doctor dismissed his
guests, who were fully satisfied with the
sohdity of his pretensions. An account
of this feat will be found in Baxter's
works
One of the most remarkable exhibi-
tions of clever juggiery is mentioned in
Salverte's Philosophy of Magic lion
don, 1916, vol. l, page l05l. 1t was
seen at Nancy. in France. in 1929. A
man from the audience was induced TO
lie down on the stage and the magician
deliberately chopped his head off. He
displayed the severed head to the audi
euce SO that they could recognize the
features: he permitted them te touch 1t,
TO open the mouth. which shut again Of
its own accord. and to examine the
bleeding section Of the neck at the ex-
trenaity Of the trunk. He removed the
body and withdrew curtain and imme-
diately the supposed dead appeared in
perfect health. Salverte says that the
beheading trick was performed by the
Mahometans, and the Elian is authori-
~ for the statement that Esculapius
apparently reunited the heart Of n wo-
man to her corpse and restored her to
life and health.
Accor,ainy IN Mr. Goo.lvin IN his