The Nicodemus cyclone. [volume] (Nicodemus, Graham County, Kan.) 1887-1888, 1888-05-04
Ancient and Modern Spiritual
ism Contrasted.
In the Days of YOre, According to Biblical
Lore, Wizards Called the Dead Forth,
Modern Mediums, However, Simply Work
tor Lucre and Are Tried ia the Courts
for Their Brazen Mendaoity.

VI 4nen But with 1lvId ThunderS of In
dignation.
J Special to tie Kansas City Times.
BROOKLYN April 29-After the Rev. T
Dewitt Talmage, D. D., had i'll his well-knowr
manner expounded the Scriptures, the multi
tude OF people who throng the Tabernacle
ana all through the entrances, packing every
available space Of standing and 81 tting room
united in singing:
Salvation! let the echo Az
The spacious earth around,
While all the armies of the skv
Conspire to raise the sound"
Dr. Ialmage announced his subject: Mod
ern Splritualism." He took for his text
"Behold, there is a woman that hath a IA
mlliar spirit at En-dor And Saul disguised
himself, and put on other raiment, and be
went, and two men with him, and thew came
TO the woman by night; and he said, pray
thee, divine unto me the familiar spirit, and
bring me him up whom | shall name unto
thee'"-I Samuel XIV Ill T. s. Following is
the sermon in full:
have recently become a sprltualist. At
least so some Of the journals of that belief
declare. This, together with the fact that
mediums" are now being tried In the Grim.
lnal courts, setting millions of people to make
INQUIRY IN regard to communica ton between
this world and the next, leads me to preach this
sermon.
| trouble to the right of him, and trouble to
the lett of him, Saul knew not what to do,
AS last resort he concluded to seek out a
spiritual medium, or witch, or any,
thing that you please to call her-at
any rate woman who had communication
with the spirits of the eternal world It was
very difficult thing to do, for Saul had
either slain all the witches, or compelled
them to stop business. A servant. one dav
SAID to King Saul: II know of a spiritual
medium down at the village of En-dor." ''Do
you!" said the king. Night falls. Saul. put
ting oil his kingly robes, and putting on the
dress OF plain citizen. with two servants.
goes out to hunt up this spiritual medium
At was no easy thing for Saul to disguise him
SELL for the tallest people in the country only
came up to his shoulder, and think from the
strength Of the man and the way he bore him.
self, he must have been well proportoned. 1t
must nave been frightful thing to see man
walking along i'll the night eight or nine feet
nlgh' suppose, as the people saw him pass
they said: "WhO is that? He is as tall as
the king'-having no idea that in such a
plain dress there really was passing the king.
saul and his servants after awhile reach the
village, and they say Il wonder if this is
the haggard, weird and shrivelled up spiritual
medium sitting by the light, and on the
table sculptured images, and dvining rods.
ana poisonous herbs, and bottles, and vases.
IheY say: "Yes, this must be the place." One
loud rap brings the woman to the door. and
as she stands there, holding the candle or lamp
above her head and peering out into the dark
ness, she says: "WhO is here?" The tall
king informs her that he has come to have his
fortune told. When she hears that, she
trembles and almost drops the light, for she
knows there is no chance for a fortune-teller
or spiritusl medium in all the land. But Sanl
having sworn that no harm shall come
to her, she says: "Well, who shall I
bring up from the deadW Saul saws:
Bring up Samuel" That was the prophet
who had died a little while before. see her
waving wand, or stirring up some poison
Gus herbs in a cauldron, or hear mutterino
over some incantations or stamping with her
loot, as she cries out to the realm of the
dead Samuel! Samuel" Lo, the freez-
ing horror The floor of the tenement opens,
and the grey hairs float I'D, and the forehead.
the eyes, the lips, the shoulders, the arms,
the feet the entire body of dead Samuel
wrapped in sepulchral robe, appearing to the
astOnlshed group who stagger back and hold
fast and catch their breath, and shiver with
terror The dead prophet, white and awfnl
from the tomb, begins, to move his ashen
lips, ana he glares upon King Saul, and cries
out: What did you bring me up fora Why
did you break nv long sleeps What do YOU
mean King SauP' Saul, trying to COMPOSE
and control himself, makes this stammering
ana anrlghted utterance, as he says to the
DEAD prophet: 1.-THE Lord is against me, and
have come to you for help. What shall |
do" The dead prophet stretched forth his
nnger 10 King Saul and said: ode to-mor-
row! Come with me into the sepulchre. I
am going now Come, come, come with mel"
Aud 10! the floor again opens, and the feet of
the dead prophet disappeared, and the arms,
ana the shoulders, and the forehead. The
hOor closes. Nothing is left In the room but
Saul and the two servants, and the spiritual
medium, and the sculptured images. and the
divining rods, and the bottles, and the vases
and the poisinous herbs o, that was an
awful scene!
learn first from this subject that Spiritu
alism is very old religion. 1t is natural
that people should want to know the origin
and the history of a doctrine which is
so widespread in all the villages, towns,
and cities Of the civilized world get
ting new converts every day-a doc
trine With which many of you are already
tinged
Spiritualism in America was born in 1S47,
In Hydesville, Wayne County, New York,
when one night there was loud rap heard
against the door of Michael Weekman: rap
q second time, rap a third time: and all
three times, when the door was opened. there
was nothing found there, the knocking hav-
luS uctu Indue seemingly OY lnVlSlOle knuck-
les In that same house there was a Young
woman who had = cold hand passed over her
face, and there being seemingly no arm at
tached to it. ghostlv suspicious were excited
After while Mr. Fox and his family moved
into that hOnse. aud then every night there
was banging at the door and one night Mr.
Fox said: Are you a spiritP' Two raps,
answering in the affirmative. Are you ian
injured spiritW Two raps answering in the
affirmative. And so they found out as they
say, that it was the ghost or spirit Of a
pedlar who had been murdered in that house,
many years before, for his five hundred dol
lars. Whether the ghost of the dead pedlar
had come there to collect his five hundred
dollars, or his bones, | cannot say. not being
q Spirtualist; but there was great racket al
the door, so Mr.. Weekman declared, and Mrs
Weekman, and Mr.. Fox, and Mrs. Fox. and
all the little Foxes The excitement spread.
There was a universal rumpus. The Hon.
Judge Edmonds declared, in book, that he
b al actually seen bell start from the top
shelf of closet heard il ring over the peo-
pie that was standing in the closet; then.
swung by invisible hands ii rang over the
people in the back parlor; and fioated through
the folding doors 10 the front parlor, rung
over the people there, and then dropped on
the foor. \. p. Talmage, Senator of the Unit
ed States, afterwards Governor of Wisconsin
had his head completely turned with spirit