The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-05-26
SPIRITS AT MOUNT LENNON
Eddy, the Medium. Among the Good shakers
of Eastern New York.


MOUNT LEBANON, N. v, May 23-The third
week of May. 1878. will remain for n long time
n memorable ono in the quiet annals Of the
Shakers OF Berkshire and Columbia coun-
ties. Tho famous Spiritunlist medium. William
Eddy. visited for the first time the settlement ut
Mount Lebanon. and gave upward Of dozen
scances. all Of which, according to tho testimo-
ny of the performer himself. rs well as OF the
Shakers. were remarkably successful Broth
crs and sisters Of the various families. scattered
on the slope of the hills running along the from
tier line OF the States Of New York and Massa-
chuscts. nockcd in large numbers to tho head
quarters Of the so-callcd Gathering Family
of which two members ut least Elder Frederick
Evans and Eldcrcss AnlOincttc Dooltlc. are
not strangers to fame. A good deal Of the stcndy.
honest work which the Shakers are celebrated
for was given up for the sake OF attending these
scanccs. The vcrdant fields, the luXurinnt or
chards. the tidy workshops. were deserted
whenever II was known that William Eddy was
giving one Of his sittings in the seed house
specially fitted up for the occasion.
To account for this excitement. it must he
kept in view that the Shakers are rrodeemnblc
| Spiritualists. They consider the inner world
IA being the most substantial and the inner
man IA being the real man." The outward
world is for them only the shadow Of the in
visible world Of causation. 1t is In that sense
| that they interpret also the words OF Apostle
| Paul: " We look not at the things which are
sccn but Mt the things that are not seen for the
things which are seen arc temporal. but the
things that are not seen are eternal" They are
entirely convinced Of spirit communications.
interpretations. and guidance. They maintain
that their spiritunlism has permitted them to
converse with individuals departed from this
world, some of whom were their contcmpo-
/ 81. IL, tl.r Iaf thn oil
They 90 even further than that. They say that
in the past. spirits labored among them; but TINT
in later times. they began themselves to labor
among the spirits for II appears that. like all
other beings. the spirits require training and
education and Elder Evans assured mo that he
was perfectly certain that both himself and u
grent many Of the brothers and sisters had n
direct. though perhaps not very accountable.
way of communicating with spirits.
" But putting religious and social questions
apart. take our hymns. for instnncc' snid II
der Frederick They are all of Thorn II spirit
ual origin Our brethren and sisters gct in
spred with them whom they least expect u.
They wake ~ some morning win ths NUS,
the middle Of their daily work. Now. Is not that
spiritual insprauon But wnni - tle
with tho smile ~ childlike purity on his LIS.
Look at this tree. Is il not n material zuion
lint sortg or can we even nnnly2e how the
, work Is doncr l. IL not evident To- any one that
thu tree lives Just rs complete a lie rs you
, suppose. Elder Frederick, that I should call
, this trso "A chemical and mechanical comhina-
ton of primtiv" atoms. Would not j." ns near
; To the truth MS you are = venturcd hcstating-
by no. means" rotortcl he. " for the FIRST
thing would ask you would he whore theso
r atoms came from; Anybody can eomir'hehl
mai.rialized manifestations q the sprltna
world hut nobody can realize the meaning OF
your atoms"
. Tho Shakers don't doubt for moment that
Al ala don NrNf il ~ : "a
The whole question for them t.. how ihc spir
works; Tor they admit that there can he bad A.
well rs good spirits. and th"y maintain taal
there il n probationary state Ia the world
above a. in the world hollow They say oven
that very frequently spirits appear IN avery
desuliory condition in the beginning Of theii
@ earthly career. They yet consolllated only
p by inp rs d. 9GIarS eut tN arc yoa.,,
; AMI Shadowy in form and d"sutory in speech
r while some cannot utter an audible or sensible
o word. But the more frequently they get ma
terializsd the stronger they become AMI thu
u more clear and profound IN their ulirrances.
, this '' stamp spirituaiist mediums have ali IN,
success they could possibly wish for. Thu
I Shakers don't often invite mediums to visi
them. for the entertainment Is n rather ex
pcnsive one. But when there Is asuu-lnntla
. surplus In the cash box 81 the community an
q a medium can boz got cheap. the elders x" 10 th'
= ni,,nts IKE Sai~' Poster. or Hume domain,
= usually from $500 to $500 Tor a singh Job Of ih
!. ! ht.turr and tho shakers are not the Kind 90
j. people t. pay any such sum; ,lui They < Wi,
y his EXCITING notorioty notwithstnn ling. seem
e a. be always hard up. has been Tor cons idrr
: able time lying idle IN Utica. and tn Shakers
q, elders made up their mind 90 give him turn
They proposed to him 10 come 0cross To Noun
: Lebanon. Offering 20 pay his expenses and L
II give him $50 in cash for series Of scanrcs.
~ \ very queer looking individual H. this Nj
, acknowledged, squar"ly butt, WIN
Il pronounced tendency 70 corpul enee, ana WIN
|. strong tinge oi "a" plaiu-mlud"d country cha
!. all oyer him; There is net hs sligl'e,t lrarc
- anything spiritual or int"Uefuil III MS c9nlo
= silion. Tho only thing in his favor Is TINT l.
r. looks somewhat shy and speaks very Mite.
, with him. He is credited with never u-in
l. strong language. strong drinks. or oiherws
r indulging ia any proiauencss. His hair il dar
- brown: he does not wear either NOUS
Il frequently either About twice week h
Ia INT. on n clean Wamsutta shirt. nropping l.
i Of Tie Mount Lebanon village. my nosirils wcr
4 struck with what ] should call strong cler
n cal odor "a c9mhnauoh 81 Irrspilliloh M
n Of priests in SWtin or Italy. some OF th.s
Is divine7 do not snuil at all. and never saw NJ
Eddy take a pinch: but somehow or otn"r m
Awpatish element ~ snuf il always clearly Dir
ia cernible IN the sour atmosphere u such habit
l.. ons.
- At dinner table Mr. Eddy presents n pi,tur
nj worthy o. tho brush Of he best Du, y master
is II" cats copiously and almost exclusively wit
10 his knife, ! was mNiousiy Watching nm les
i he should cut his lips or his tongue" Mhon
- comes TO absorb some gravy or soma juicy ma
h ter ne not only sups it with his knit" hut licl
. soliciting tho food he evidently ndh"res % I'll
n principle II variety. ! saw him start with
n. dish 81 curds and sugar. washed down with
10 glass of water. After that he took some fish nm
slowed prunes then some boiled eggs. whic
ie he s'raind into his plate and qte Thorn with b
I'll knife; then large piece OF hu 'klcbcrry pie
H. then "A cup Of tea and some slowed tOmatOc
-, which he mixed up with some nondrscr
~ Shaker preparation of pears. Tho shake
at don't encourage the use ~ meat hut rs an g.
la copiional favor they placed on our table n f.
10 thin slices Of dried beef. BY crunching Il f.
hs Of these slices the great medium concluded b
RS meal.
to How Mr. Eddy looks during tho performan
~ Of naturalization OF spirits am unable 10 to
for not only do these performances take pla
be in dark ROOM but he seats himself ina cHr
fully curtained-up cabinet. The only thing
noticed il that when the performance s owe
~ h. is considerably excited. and Is straming
p over, his hair being rs greasy and wet as If
"A had been saturated with oil.
w" H. was accompanied by young man su
n posed to be- rising medium, dressed IN sprn
o. bottom trousers. a cutaway coat, with hra'
an watch chain. and proiusion Of black hair fla,
u" up in clowns stand-up style. His dutl
u seemed to bc those of an aide.de-camp.
,rl body guard. He never leaves Mr.. Eddy f
~ "A minute. and during the performances e.
= plains TO the audience who the spirits ar