Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-12-01

uub Us UT IrOn LQAI WHICH IL HOs eSAS'NtS
to touch, sight or the other senses accord
ing to the usual experiences of human
beings. When the spirit took its departure
from her body, it is admitted it left
corpse but it is claimed it returned to ma
terial substances of earth, and recreated a
body in every essential like the corpse be-
fore its decay, and this temporary habita-
ton it invested with what we term life.
in other words, the spirit took it's depart
ure from the body and left it dead it re-
turned to earth, and of earthly substances
recreated a body precisely ike the dead
one it again left that body, but left no
corpse. Ali this it is assumed, but to our
mind without suficiency of proof, was ac-
complished through the force or will power
exercised upon material objects, by a spirit
acting through an earthly intelligence Of
the most ordinary character, and such an
one as the usual man of prudence would
hesitate to employ as an agency in estab.
fishing any great truth, and the integrity
of which agency is openly assailed and its
honesty challenged.
To admit the fact of Standardization,
testified to by the witness in question, and
who has offered himself voluntarily as
such, is to our mind far more unthinkable
than the admission of naturalization.
The occult forces of spirit might've may
admit for the time-without any great
stretch of the Imagination be possessed of
power to control material substances, COM
handing them to come together, to join
spirit to life, mind to matter. We are
given statements and proofs quite as
strong as those so recently cited for mate.
rializations that the Adopts of Occult
philosophy produce marvellous manifesto
tions of the improbable, nay, of the &C.
cepted impossible, and do SO through
forces of nature as yet undeveloped to the
great mass of intelligences, though pos
sessed by few; that these agencies are
in no sense spiritual as we understand the
spiritual; that they simply call for the
enjoyment of greater knowledge of the
mysteries of nature than modern culture
has yet evolved that knowledge of the
powers possible to humanity over ma
ture completely disabuse the mind
of the value of mediumistic manifesto
tions as evidences proving anything what
ever regarding the future state; in short,
that occult science gives to those admitted
to the inner arcana of its mysteries powers
far superior to those exercised by the
modern spiritual medium, and with proof
that they do not emanate from disembodied
spirits, and are not supernatural agencies.
While we do not admit that there are
evidences sufficient to convince men OF the
truth of these claims, we do undertake to
say that the testimony is as strong in the
one case as in the other, and that the evil
dences are Numerically opposed to each
other. As one writer phrasea it There
is scarcely one of the phenomena of Spir-
itualism that adopts in Occultism can.
not reproduce by the force of their
own will supplemented by a COM
prehension of the resources of nature. 4"
We do not believe that matter can
be converted at spirit or other will into
spirit form we do not believe that spirit
form materializes to the physical senses.
1t is neither pleasant nor profitable to hold
to any such beliefs. 1t is far more reason
able, pleasant and profitable, and by no
means undesirable, to believe that spirits
of the departed may visit the scenes of
their earthly habitation, nay may commu-
nicate, if the spiritualist believer pleases,
but there have been presented, we hold,
no sufficient proofs that this is, or has
been.
The author of a recent work, which is
just now engaging some amused attention,
has in the sweep of her vivid imagination
and the speculations of her fervid fancy
taken us into the spirit realm, but en- route
passes strange company of spiritual be-
ings who cannot rise above the earth, who
still cling to it, who have not risen far above
the surface of the globe, who are unrest
ing, who lack the spiritual momentum to
get away from the earth. The odd fancy
Is neither new nor original, since il is
taught, ard was, before spiritualism had It's
birth, that the soul is but the shell of the
spirit, and for time clings to earth, and
manifests its presence, and that it may do
so through the severe processes occult
philosophy imposes, as well before as after
death-in short that there is something 3"
in the communication of human intelli-
gences without the employment of human
agencies subject suggested here as illus
trative only.
So, We repeat, the belief that matter can
be converted at will into spirit form seems
to US absurd. We would do no violence to
the beliefs of any, and have due reverence
for all sincere convictions, but have a pro-
founder regard for the truth and for in.
sstence that it shall be established accord.
ing to the highest standards OF evidence.
AS Max Muller has put it, true reverence
is shown in treating every subject with
confidence, without fear and without favor,
and with an unfnching and uncompromis.
ingly loyalty to the truth.
But the truth is TO be dragged forth, or
wooed from her retreats only by competent
investigators. These must have the ju.
dicial attitude, They must be men and
women whose intimate mingling with other
men and women has shArpened their per-
captions, quickened their suspicious, and
given them a broad estimate of humanity,
and the efforts and methods taken to palm off
falsehood for truth-efforsst that are far more
constant and energetic than their opposite.
No man, then, we hold, is competent to
investigate so-called spirit phenomena, who
is suffering the anguish of real bereave-
ment. 1t has been within the experience
of nearly all who have reached the middle
path of life and look calmly or nervously,
as the case may be, for the turning of the
yrav downward tova-d tna F,A;,,