The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1875-11-19
" DISTINGUISHED VISITORS AT
THE CENTENNIAL"

Under this head we find in a late
number of the ReIigio- Philosophical
Journal candid and sensible reply to
an ardent Spiritualist who discoursed
in this wise:
1t may not be generally known that the Spir-
itualist societies contemplate taking part in
the great Centennial Celebration at Philadel-
phia, on the Fourth of July, 1876. II Unsuccessful,
it will be the wonder Of the age. It is proposed
to invite five or six OF the first-class material
izing mediums Of the United States and Eng
land to participate in this glorious festival;
that platform be erected, on which there be
a small cabinet for the spirits to materialize
themselves; when It will be expected, George
Washington, John Hancock, John Adams,
Thomas jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James
Madison, William Penn, and the Marquis de
Lafayette, will appear on the platform in the
dress they wore one hundred years ago, and
address the Surrounding multitude; and if de-
sired, they will designate the proper person for
the next Presidency, one who will be President
Of the United States, and not of party, when
capable and honest men would lie appointed
to Office, gold and silver would once more
Jingle in our pockets, the national debt would
soon be paid off, the people made prosperous
and happy. All this can be accomplished by
those who have thrown Off their material
bodies, but still take deep interest in the af-
fairs of the country they left behind.
The editor of the paper mentioned de-
clares that he will not knowingly aid
in arousing expectations in the minds
of brethren which are fallacious, and
will never be realized; that notwith-
standing the expectations of enthusi-
astic and over-credulOus Spiritualists,
they will hardly see the Fathers of the
Country in the way designated above;
that philosophy based upon common
sense teaches US that the people of the
present generation are not only capable
of, but it is their duty to perform the
work devolving upon them, even as did
the Fathers of the Government in their
day; that it will be quite as sensible for
Second Adventists TO put their religious
principles upon exhibition by erecting
a platform and dressing themselves in
ascension garments, as it will be for
Spiritualists to prepare for convention
of old patriots of the Revolution with
the expectation that they will select a
President for the present generation.
The class of Spiritualists which the
editor dubs 'social freedOmites" are
treated to a wholesome lecture, which,
If they would but heed, might be the
means of Kidding the world of tissue
of absurdities that are as disgusting to
the larger and better class Of Spiritual
lists as they are degrading to those who
seek to promuIgate them. The leaders
of the class of people to whom the
Journal refers, having no characters to
lose, mount Spiritualism as their par
ticular hobby, and narrow-minded, in
tolerant and bigoted, proclaim them
selves on the platform of progress, and
foretell marvellous events that are upon
the eve Of transpiring, among which is
the grand Centennial convocation OF
spirits at Philadelphia. This the paper
quoted declares will prove as true in
Spiritualism, and as grand a spectacle
as the ascension of the Millerites has on
three or four fixed dates within the past
thirty years. The Journal closes the
article thus:
Infinite Wisdom, forbid that Spiritualists
should attempt to mar the harmony Of that
occasion by a sectarian movement, which will
go upon the pages OF history, as another fou
blotch, to the discredit of the advocates of oul
heaven-born philosophy.