Connecticut western news., 1876-08-04
SPirituaIism.

MIR. EDITOR A series of lectures has been delivered here in Ct. Burlington, at Park Hall, by Mrs. Brigham, and with your permission will give your readers a synopsis of her first discourse, which, with still. further indulgence on your part, will follow with notes on her second, which will suffice for the whole course.
 Mrs. B. who had been quietly sitting, arose and stepping to the small supporter in front, resting an elbow thereon, with upturn- ed face and folded hands commenced an in vocation with thanks and few words of petition to Our Father" Directly these forms of speech were changed to an ex- tended statement by the speaker of her opinions as to what prayer is. and what is not prayer. With few additional words of thanks that exercise closed.
 The subject of speech on which she pro- posed to enlighten the audience was stated as ''The Present" The commencement went largely into a comparison between past and present as to material things, talking of how one condition prepared the way for another, and then most opportune- ly the other came to pass.
 Given as general statements, those notions are of general acceptance but when she proceeded to illustrations of the same there was queer exaggcration of the melancholy state of solicitude previous to the pending discoveries. Instance coal, kerosene. It seemed to 8 seaside person quite doubt if the sensible natives of this western coun- ty in the old Bay state ever distressed them. selves on behalf of tue voyagers of the ocean from Nantucket, Marblehead and Cape Cod because they found it not so easy to catch the big fish to give them light for the night. Why when the whalemen find their prey scantY near home they go fur. ther out, and when the supreme sperm whale keeps off, avoiding the harpoon, they just thrust the ugly thing into black fish, another producer of good oil, which as a substitute brings a good price, at which they do not fret; neither need we. Doubtful. too, if we here have ever shivered with alarm lest the forest would fail us for oul burning, so speedily does the replenishing go on when the regrowth IS permitted This generation can probably take theil choice of fuel. But leaving these amusing magnifications of past miselies-when Mrs B. came to touch sacred subjects the ex | aggerations and perversions increased The whole of that part was mere rehears al of the errors as expanded before audi ences ID this place at her former appear ances. The voice of Mrs. B. is an agreed ble one naturally, but when engaged Il giving expression to her state of mind ol these topics, her tones and aspects ar painfully unlovely. It was noticed that rustic of response came at what she mean as 'good hits" on theologians. Thel would be little cxultation on the part o the speaker. Somewhere near the end wa thrown in slight account of how began this grand revelation of spiritualism. Som 1 oung children (infants she was understoo to call them) in New York state in the yea AS heard sounds and then held talks These small people, it might be inferred were of a type of dear little innocents through whom these longing invisible discerned they could first disclose their SC crets, so that the marvel moving softl along in graduated way was to be tenderl and safely imparted to ''children of large growth" Thus was to be spread abroa the magnificent discovery. How oppo1 tune that was! when the time had just al rived for demolishing the whole structur of the beliefs of the Christian world-t this planet-just then comes two littl ones, not sure she said, in @ trundled bee but restless little two from whom follow much ado.
 Deducting the words marvellous" an wonderful and "waste of ages" i" and sue like phrases, reiterated with adapted ge lures, there was not much left to be put i words in narrating the events of the ever ing. Of the closing poesy, that standin wonder and marvel, you will be intereste in the explanation of it as rendered b two who were interchanging opinion That feat IS sufficiently accounted for their minds, but
 Oh and alas is dissolved thereby
 The charm of the poetry