The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-21
THE SPIRITS.

THE SPIRITS.
 r.ve,at,ous or the Very KisG cf the Me
 1s.~.- ID. ID. mome-AH others
 Mere Pretenders Alone
 fs TruthsuI and
 Honest.
 Mir. D. D. Home, in his book on spirit, ualism, just published, seems to regard all other living mediums than himseii as ;mnostors. Somewhat inconslstently with this position, however, he takes up the history of miracle working, divlna- tion. sootbsaying, etc., and proves tnat the world has always been full of spifit. nal mediums One of the first stories oi the marvellous which he tells IS nara tive of Swedenborg, cited from a iet'e' of Kent, the philosopher .,
 "Mme. Harteville, the widow oi tue
 Dutch envoy in Stockholm, sometime
 after the death of her husband, receivea
 a demand from the goldsmith Groom Tor payment of silver service which mer | husband had ordered from him. The
 widow was confidently persuaded that
 her husband had been much too orderiy l to allow the debt to remain. unpaid; put
 she could discover no receipt. In this trouhle. and since the amount was con
 siderable, she begged Baron Swedenborg to give her call. Alter some
 apologies she ventured 10 gay o
 him that, if he had the ex.
 traordinary gift, as all men affirmeo, ol
 conversation with departed souis,, sne
 hoped that he would have the goodness to inquire of her husband how 1t stood
 with the demand for the silver service.
 Swedenborg made no difficulty in meet
 ing her wishes. Three days alter this
 the lady had company of friends taking
 coffee with her; Baron Swedenborg
 entered, and, in his matter-of-fact-way,
 informed her that he had spoken with her husband and that the debt had been discharged come months before his death, and that the receipt was in certain cabinet which she would find in an upper room. The lady replied that this cabinet had been completely emptied, and among the whole of the papers this
 receipt could not be found. Swedenberg ! said that her husband had described to him that, if they drew forth a drawer on
 the left side, they would see board. l which, being pushed aside, they would find concealed drawer in which wal I kept his secret correspondence with Hol' !, land. and there this receipt would be t found. On this representation the lady
 betook herself, with all the company, tt
 the upper room. The cabinet wal
 opeped; they found the secret drawer
 described, of which she had hitherto
 known nothing, and in it the required paper to the intense amazement of al
 present"
 When we come to that portion ot thu book in which the author speaks o Z things within his own knowledge, and O ' the frauds and delusops of modern spir itualism, we strike upon much that i :. interesting. In introducing 1t, he says z "For years l have seen with pair T abuse after abuse attach itself to cause l. in the service of which my life has beer :, passed, and with which such foulnesse ,l have nothing in common. So wonder : fully have these paragraphs increased { and multiplied that, like pearl crustet z = with spots of dirt, the purity and beaut! | of the original seem at present almos | hidden. An experience ex U ceedingly varied, and extending over . . period of five and twenty years. give v me to my own mind, and will give t' ]. !. the minds of the reasoning portion o 'ii humanity, sufficient title to be heard. In support of his view of the subiec !, he adduces letters from Mr. and Mrs ;, $. c. Hall, Katy Fox, now Mrs Jencken, and Hudson Futile. On thu = = other hand, he finds himself opposed b. e William Crookes and others, who's
 names he suppresses, who are of thu !, opinion that an exposure of the tricks o n the trade will do harm rather than good Some oi those who take this side even g
 so far as to threaten him with violence c he persists in his purpose. But he de 5 clares that he is not to be thus terrified u and will tell the truth at whateve hazard.
 n The first victims of Mir. Homes pei U are Messrs. Scott and Harris, who, abou e twenty-seven years ago, he says, set u for inspired prophets, and gathere' around them little band of disciple T whom they led to place called Noun 1T tain Cove, Virginia, and there attempte' F to organize into community. Tue ex pertinent failed, of course, but not unti ], the two leaders of it had, according L 'i Mir. Home, exhausted in it's behalf tn . resources of charlatanry and blasphe e nous assumption. A similar de | fusion found favor about the sam l. time in Geneva, Switzerland, and by it :; worthy old couple were induced to spen, their entire fortune insuppoi ting rabbi of enthusiasts whom the supposed spirit e gathered around. Next, MT. Hom U tells the story of Rev. John M. Spear medicine for producing perpetual motion D and it's lamentable failure. The variou ]; fancies of the French spiritualist, Allal u Kardeck, are also recounted. and tn, g doings of the New York Theosophi society are dwelt npon with ridicule The book of the president of this latte - institution, People from the othe World," comes in for especial denuncia ! tion, and it is plainly said that it's autho < is fool.
 I After this Mir. Home enters at grea D length into discussion of the trickery r involved in the naturalization of spirits , the production of flowers, fruits anc , similar articles, bysupposed spirit agency , and the photographing of spirits. H, 2 cites the testimony of Sergeant Cox, con ' corning naturalization
 "But have learned how the trick ii , done. I have seen the description of il B given by medium to another medium ' who desired instructions. The letter wal in her own handwriting, and the whole