The Chickasaw messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1880-1900, 1881-03-17
'EIEE FICTION OF SPIRITUAL.
EmM

llavlns r. uty real a eofk 90
n ifitusl Man stations, perhaps
the most reii e yet published,
wish to cali yoHr attention t3 AL
incident uhivh 81 my judgment
viuales the whole Thls book Is d
translation 8 Traaseaiental Physics
ny Prot Zollncr. Of Lcipsic, Cor
many; the translator is an English
Scientist and Lawyer 81 note Charles
Carleton Massey Perhaps no So
called spiritual manifestations any
whsrs have ever been so well altested,
co carefully watched, So scientifically
investigated as those related IN this
book. Il bears the imprint Of 1881 s
but tie tests occurred ID Lnpsict
Germany, ID 1878 with the famous
DR.. Slade a. medium, and In the
presence of men OF lcafaing and
character, Professors OF Leipsic
University and others, aud / believe
/ the facts stated may be relied ON, S
having actually occurred The fsct
/ IL, 90 reasonable man can doubt .he
occurrence Of the phenomena any
more than he can doubt the wonder
M rcals Of clalrvoyanis, conjurors or
/ slight Of hand performers which take
place before his eyes The phenom
ena OF spiritualism, however, make a
higher claim OF paternily-they are
credited 20 The doad-t0 departed
men ard women But ! must hasten
on to the point wish to call your
attention TO, lor | feel that you
begrudgc me the space shall occupy
in this article, aua I must be brief
! must say th ! have more conf
dence in this book-well npmed
( Transcendental Pbysies-than any
work on the subject / have ever real
There is no pretense Of humbug, or
deception 10 it, and there is an air Of
candor, sincerity aad honesty in il
throughout, that commands respect
/ IL not belief The Professor seemed
to be earnestly in search Of thelruth--
Of a solution of the mysteries of
sirilual manifestations upon scientific
principles; but | must say be left his
work in darkness which has always
covered it from human vision.
His weird theories Of a 'iourth di-
mension" al e just merely imoompro
hensible. Nearly all bis tests were
Of the slate writing phenomena.
Every prccaution was taken by him
which human ingenuity and science
could suggest; aud there is no
doubt the states were written upon
by some power outside Of Slade's
MUSCULAR agency. Slade certainly
diduot do it with bis fingers, although
the photographs Of the writings given
show a REMARKABLE SIMILARITY 0f
handwriting. An expert from the
Whitaker trial could not, 10 my opin
ion, detect any difference, and If done
BY any spirit at all, must have been
written by The same spirit in every
instance. The translator makes this
statement in reference 10 fictitious
spirits which wish to call your
special attention to- Page 81
"To the writer, it has always ap-
peared that the presence Of a depart
ed friend, in rRorRIA PERSONA, is very
insul1cintly proved By eommuniea-
lions purporting TO be thus derived,
even when all knowledge of the
medium of the name Of the deceased,
or OF the circumstances called to the
recollection Of the survivor by way
Of Identification, can be disproved
We are SO profoundly ignorant Of the
mystery of life that in this region
VIC are not entitled to accept an ex-
planation as true simply because it is
sufficient, and because we cannot rep.
resent to ourselves any other.
| Usually, in the writer's experience
invariably, in these communications
any attempt to pursue the test by
further p obing the memory aud in el.
telligence of the supposed spirit
results in failure AND THE FIRE.
| QuENcY or ADMITTED DECEPTIVE CON
MuEIcATIONs PROVES AT LEAST THAI
THERE ARE MIXED INFLUENCES ABROAD,
AND THAT THE HOSPITALITY or TnH
MEDIUMS SPIRITUAL EEIGHBoRnoon
IS SHARED By QUESTIONABLE GUESTS
Some time before the commencement
OF proceedings against Slade lin Lon
don) the writer, being extremely
skeptical of spirit identity, wrote &
fictitious name on The back of slate
/ carefully coneealing the side or
which he wrote and the motions oI
ths pehcil), and handed the slate
clean side uppermost, to Slade, re-
Quested th,t the indiviual whose
name was written would eommuni-
cate, if present. Sade took the
slate without reversing it, and laid ,
morsel of pencil upon il; then AZ
ONCE pressed It against the undel
surface Of the corner OF The table. 81
that the clean side was in contact
with that surface, the side on which
the namo was written being the Iowel
one Writing was beard directly
and the slate being Withdrawn AM
Immediately inspected, on It's UPpEI
side was found a kind little message
Of friendly remembrance SIGNED ID
THE FICTITIOUS NAME { = Never wa
the writer moro satisfied OF Sladef
integrity tban on this occasion
= Such experiments. how.
ever, are regarded by spiritualssa a
highly Objectionable. No wonder
TnEY BELIEVE. AND THEY HAVE SOM
E GROUNDS IN THEIR EXPERIENCE Foi
{ THEIR BELIEF, THAT FRAUD IN I'll
: INVESTIGATOR WILL, ny ATTRACTION
ELICIT FRAUD N THE MANIFESTATIONS
SoMr co FURTHER, AND MAINTAi
THAT THE STRONG AEIAUs OF PREJu
n4cn. UNCONSCIOUS But PoWERFuLL
WILLING THE VERY APPEARANCE IT ia
rro4s. NAY MgsMERfeALL4 coKrRo
rur SENSITIVE MEDIUM, AND FoRa
ms ACTIONS II THE DIRECTION IT IND
GATES"
The small caps are mine in I'll
above quotation from The translator
!. preface. I wish to call the reader
attention to them, and have lit
more 10 say. If the facts be tfn
and they are from the best spiritu
authority extans, then, of what II.
is spirltualism IN fact, and what rel