The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-12-13
10 Cents q Week
Spiritualisn.
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 70, 1882.

SAN ANTONIO, Dec IL, 1882
Editor of the EVENING LIGHT.
,ot, NAV t read with considerable interest the
| letter or your correspondent l. O. q. who ahiv
| PAGES MS contention for the bona tides of mn:
uluiiislllp, and consequent truth of the nresant
system OF splrItualism before your readers. I
eHe your correspondent credit for the honesty
vi ms opinion, and admire his courage in eT
pressing IT, At the same time | think n few
pam lacts ana statements will show the fallacv
mission to present. MA" PSi-
now, SIR, you will remenb, the grand axi-
u,n ,na, we nave no right 10 appeal to the SUI
per-haturil TO solve any problem before wa
nave exhausted the natural causes If Snrit''
aiisLh presented something that its mediums
n n couiu produce, and for which there was
no solution but the supernatural there m igIt
De some reason upon which they ,ouId nsL b.,
clentinty Oh the public, but it is a well known
iact tnat there Is no so-called MANIFESTATION
sinI,r taS,t III, asld mas been produced under
Iii h tests ny various wizards or conjurOrs.
nave myself seen these Manifestations mo
uuce9 III 81. James Hall, London, by pr11es
slolial cOnJurers, Messrs Maskelyne and CooL
under even more severe tests than annIieG ~
ileuiulns, and have seen further such mani
leslatlohs ana apparent wonders there that no
st ou H,Is nas produced The London spiritual
Isl. snught I" get over this difficulty by de-
mouaicng the conlurers ITS highly developed
mediums, which they answered by proving
themselves to be mere tricksters
lheh again 1t must be remembered that 1h,.
seaiGes are given under conditions that admit
Oh al kinds OF chicanery. They take place i'm a
anal henf bav room, where all present join hands
not to interfere with the medium
VINO Is all this while at liberty and unseen. In
al those Instances where these conditions have
U U uroHen ana the medium seized, notably in
new ork, Chicago London, Liverpool ana
a a Mailchester, he or she has been found un-
ger .t such conditions rs to leave no doubt that
'hE llGdlum lmpcrSOnated the spirit
ny the character and acts Of the members of
a a.! oouy we can Judge of its principles. d. ID.
hT i., who w may he called the apostle Of spirit
ton is related, was convicted by law of having
detrauded an old lady of u snug little fortune,
Gy rePresehntihg IN course of his private mani
!estatiun That her dead husband desired such n
transfer. Henry Slade, the great American
european spiritualist slate writer, was ar
rested !, LOT fraud, and when under bond found
he could produce bona iide spirit writing in nm
open meeting, was it not reasonable to Suppose.
mat ne would have done so in open court. thus
securing ms ac!uittal and proving the truth of
sspiIituailsln. lie knew, however, he could do
neituer, 50 wisely left the country and saved in
hapitatlon OF prison cell. Mrs. Fletcher "A
popular London medium, well known in New
ork anu IN the northern cities, during pri-
wave statice produced, what she called The INN.
ter!aiNed form of the dead hlst and of her lady
vlSitor' VINO requested her to give the medium
valuable jewels and large sums OF money She
moreover connired at her husbands seduction
OF her victim in order further to enslaye her.
III TINS case the law got its grp,and the medium
passed twelve months SeclusIOn in n Rritish
prison, from which no spirits helped her ont
mere was lady medium, too, u pretty Young
au9, whose name ! cannot now remember
VINO Will De recOllected as the '>uriyinat ress uf
the so-called spiritual naturalization and who
produced the materialized form of '.Tom ami
Nate klng in her private seance. All the
WOriu wondered at her manifestation and new
era III sp'rituallsln was announced by the spir-
ltu.!ist societies and their organs who recOw-
nlzed her "a the most gifted Of mediums S6s.
relgnea u triGmphant!y until at one of the
seamless Mr. 4lpSman broke the. "conditiOns"
SeHeu inc iledlum, turned up the lights and
exposed her dressed up to impersOnate the ma
terialiAed spirit. Many other fraudulent cases
the dishonesty of the principal spiritualis1s
does not necessarily prove that spirituaism il
FRAUD, but these INSTANCES serve To show that
even under investigation deception has been
practlccd TOR a long time without discovery
ana Is possible, and | cOntend that il ia DroH
toie tna' me deception is still continued in the
present phase Of spiritIIallsm Ii shows to,.
the worthless and dishonest character Of itS
picuOus fact.
Reason and experience are against spirit-
iaism, and while they can not pro
luce anything to exec! or even equal
me Tricks OF prOtesSed cOnjurers i'm their 40
allied manifestations, and the action of their
apostles, are enVelOped in fraud, they cannon
Expect reasonable men to accept their leach
ngS are correct. Man, il is true naturally
, unto the supernatural and fears it,
nus IL was IN the primitive ages and is 50 now
ina superstition aud ignorance have made him
In easy prey for vultures using that bait but
~" Inc glorious light OF education Is diffuse}
lrouuu US ana nc! want reason for their faith
instead OF Upintelligible jargon and mysterious
ndicatlons While believe in the spiritual
lie OIL man in the hereafter and am prepared 10
'ellete mat God may make personal spiritual
manifestations TO secure diViue end, even in
MS uay, zee no reasonable cause to suppOS,
nat spirits can be invoked at will BY any
h h VINO, for his own personal gain, places
mem on show 1t So much per head rs il they
we're saves To his will. The idea is simply pre-
'pStofous. The fact is, the whole OF the pres
nj system or religion of spiritusLism-wbicb-
yer they ike to call It's uaSed upon fraud
nd error. 1t is so Inconsistent and ridiculous
many ways that 1t IS hard to understand how
o many are found TO foster and suppOrt su.h
monstrous fraud upon public creduty,
apOl0gG for having written to this extent
ut t,,ei that II would be impOlitic to- allow T.
!, e. letter to 90 forth without this ST. cement
! iaris and personal opinions, cor this reason
lone ask that you will publish this letter.
Faithfully yours,
HENRY RYDER-TAYIpfs