The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-01-18

| friend OF mine and man OF Sclenc
asks me if l will unravel the mysteries o
Spirtualism
Certainly. Why not Although, il
some respects, the doctors and parsons ma.
know as well how to do it as do.
Spiritualism is a comparatively new i'm
provement on an old invention. 1t hai
existed as far back as tradition ever went
though the Witch of Endor was the first
prominent pioneer in the business. In the
early history of this country it broke ouI
violently in Massachusetts,, but was
promptly suppressed by the wise men Of
that period, by hanging all the mediums.
Since then, the Declaration of Independ-
ence has been inaugurated and the Consti-
tuition of the United States erected for the
express purpose of guaranteeing to the
men and women of this free country the
right to be witches or mediums or any
other kind of moral reformers. Anybody
is allowed to believe in spiritualism now.
There is nothing in the genius of our Re-
vised Codes which prevents it. And have
noticed that whenever man wanted to be-
lieve in spirituallsm he generally found the
opportunity.
The mysteries of spiritualism are readi-
ly understood by any student of Shakespeare.
The whole m0dus operandi is explained in
the play of Hamlet Hamlet was clearly
a medium himself. He could see his fa-
theirs ghost in his mothers chamber, but
size couldn't see it, although it blazed in its
glittering armor. And when old man
Polonius sought out Hamlet to deliver a
message from the Queen, it will be remem-
bered that this remarkable dialogue oc-
Cured between them:
" Ham. Do you see yonder cloud that's
almost in tho shape of a camel?
"P0l. By the mass, and 'tis like a
camel, indeed.
''.Ham. Methinks it is like weasel
L" Pol. 1t is backed like weasel.
Ham. Or like a whale?
"P0L. Very like whale"
Here is positive proof of the mediumis-
tic power of Hamlet, and the mystery of
it consists i'll loyal determination on the
part of the obliging chancellor to see
things as the yourg prince saw them.
When Hamlet pointed out the cloud in the
shape of a camel Chancellor Polonius saw
it, OF rather, thought he saw it. Then this
same cloud, apparently without any cause
whatever changed into the shape of a
weasel, and then to a whale. 1t is highly |
probable that there was no cloud at all, yet
Judge Polonius saw plainly first camel,
then weasle, and then a whale, and if
Hamlet had been disposed to push the in
vestigation further it is almost certain that
the old man was prepared to take observa-
ton of all the shapes in the animal king
dom. He was ready to see anything. In
other words, he had resolved to keep his
vision on a line with Hamlet's notwith-
standing that wild young blood had evil
IDENTIFY been to the grocery too often and
was in condition to see snakes even in
jhe heavens.
This historical example is conclusive
Illustration of the fact of spiritualism, and
t proves that the men who witness the un-
accountable phenomena of seances have
irst gotten their minds and hearts in tune
% receive the evidence. 1 never heard of
/ skeptic seeing anything. The spirits
lever appear to them. But if a man will
,nly Just 6eIjece in it with all his might,
md soberly reason the thing out to the
atisfaction of his mind that there are
Ipirits dying to open correspondence with
lin, and then go to some medium who
,nows how to open the door to spirit land,
le is dead sure to see sights which will
GRITTY his faith. To such man shadow {
N the wall is a plain case of materializa-
ion. He went there to see it and he saw
t, and he is willing to swear to it. And if ]
N the wall then his lively imagination goes
o work conjuring up the form of Uncle
'eter or Aunt Jane out of thin air. A
mind intoxicated with the high pressure of
piritual development is mighty apt to
e able to detect marvellous manifesto 1
ions. l knew man once who could '
ot even read, yet his natural gifts were so !
reat that all he had to do to see vast array |
f dancing angels was to close his eyes and
urn his face up to heaven. The faith of q
hat man was perfectly beautiful, and any ]
xpression of doubt that he really sdo all c
hese angels was rebuked by him with a
aintly sneer. 1t was impossible to con- 1
ince this man that he was mistaken, that
e was the victim of a Eallucination, and {
/ is equally impossible to convince a spir- I
tualist or conjuror that the wonderful phe- V
omena which appear to their visions are e
imply the product of unhealthy imagina- c
ions. c
1 believe in spiritualism, but don't be- !
eve there is anything in it. 1 believe in q
oudooism too, which is the plebian name
or il.