Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-01-13

Mr.. Charles BeeCher on Spiritual Mani
festatiOns- --Rapplngs and Profess
scr Phelps -Planchette and
Mrs. Stowe.
Now York Herald Boston Letter.l

New York Herald Boston Letter
The first book OF the new year will
be DR.. Charles Beecher's Spiritual
Manifestations which Lee & Shep-
ard will publish in a few days, and
which is likely to cause some commo-
ton in orthodox circles, in spite of
the authors explicit declaration that
he speaks only for himself-"No Not as
the representative of the church yisi.
BILE or invisible, o of his professional
brethren nor of his kindred" He be-
gins by asserting that spirtualism, or
rather the belief in spiritual commu-
Mon, seems no more improbable than
a great many scientific hypothesis,
and says that there never has been in
his mind any sense of the improbable
ity Of the existence aud agency of
spirits, and AYERS that the abstract
probability that spirits exist and act
is equal to, if not greater, than the
probability that there are really such
things as ultimate PARTICLES, which no
body claims to have discerned, while a
great many persons say that they have
seen spirits. He speaks of the many
family histories Of mysterious occur
rences which he has encountered while
performing his pastoral duties, find
ing that there are few households in
which there is not some strange tale
which they shrink from making pub
lie. He begins by telling a story
which was repeated to him by Prof
Austin Phelps, of Andover, and which
has some curious points of resem-
blance to the tale Of the ghost Jeffrey
that yexed the Wesley family. In
1851 Prof. Phelps father requested
him to come to Stratford, Conn, to
investigate certain strange phenomena
which had from time 10 time appeared
In his house. Says Prof Phelps:
The first thing that took place of
an unusual nature was on a certain
Sunday. The family. including the
servants. according to custom, had
been to church, leaving the house
locked up. On returning they found
the street door wide open. The first
thought was that robbers had been
there. No signs, however, of their
appearance appeared until they came
TO my fathers room, and there they
found three full suits of his clothes.
stuffed out with old clothes, etc., and
laid side by side upon the floor, with
boots. hat, etc, somewhat as | have
seen them after a railroad collision.
This seemed very strange, but the gen
eral impression was hat it might be
the roguish trick Of the boys, or some
one unknown. In the course OF the
day, as my father was walking across
the parlor, no other person being in
the room, akey was thrown from be-
hind, over his head, and fell on the
floor at his feet. He picked it up and
put it in his pocket. Soon after a nail
was thrown in the same way. In the
evening, as the family were sitting to-
gether, suddenly a turnip fell from the
ceiling in their midst. Then they be-
gan to hear little raps in various direc-
tions. They tried to trace them, but
could not"
Mr.. Phelps barn was mysteriously
burned in broad daylight, when no one
was zeal it, 50 far as was known. An
ignited newspaper was found under
the mattress Of a cOt-bed occupied by
one of the children who slept in Dir.
Phelps room. One night, when the
noises were very troublesome, PrOfes.
sor Phelps and his uncle followed
them until they came to the room Of
Mrs. Phelps oldest daughter, and
then n stepped inside the door and
the other remained outside and the
kicking came on the door between
them, each thinking it upon the sur
face furthest from himself. As Pro.
lessor Phelps stepped back into the
room a hairbrush flung from the door
fell at his feet, a thing which suggests
70 an unbeliever that very possibly the
bad little boy who had been followed
by the knockings'' had grown tired Of
rapping on the decreasing at PROBES
sor Phelps feet, and had flung the
brush at him as a browning perform
ance. Moreover, not only was the
knock-pursued small boy in the house
TO account for many things, but also a
woman suffering from the first ap,
proaches of malady which finally de-
stroyed her reason, and that woman
disliked Stratford, and was anxious
to move to Philadelphia. This was
Mr.. Phelps second wife, to whom and
to her children the disturbance was
attributed by the uncharitable. She
was much grieyed at the charge, aud
denied it solemnly, a fact which, con
sidering her mental state, has no
weight at tall with the most credulous
person. Professor Phelps himself
thinks that the presence OF bad spirits
i the most probable explanation Of
the affair, a fact that seems to indicate
as little skepticism As his remark that
nobody was nearthe barn when it was
burned. AS a rule, incendiarieS do