The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1888-05-10
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
a Homily on the Widespread Curse
of Modern Spiritualism.
The Birth and Progress of the Heresy In
America and the Banefu1 Influence 1t
Has Exerted in Many Homes
a Christian Seance.

ssModern Spiritualism" was the subject
chosen by Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage for a
recent sermon at the Brooklyn Tab
ernacle. His text was:
DR.. Talmage announced his subject:
sModern Spiritualism." He took for his
text:
Behold, there is a woman that hath familiar
spirit at Endor And Saul disguised himself
and put on other raiment, and he went, ano
two men with him. and they came to tho
woman by night; and he said pray thee, df
vine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring
me him up. whom l shall name unto thee
J. Samuel, xviii, 7,s
Ihaye recently become Spiritualist.
At least so some of the journals of that
belief declare. This, together with the
fact that mediums are now being tried
in the criminal courts, setting millions
of people to make inquiry in regard to
communications between this world and
the next, leads me to preach this sermon.
Trouble to the right of him and trouble
to the left of him, Saul knew not what to
do. AS a last resort he concluded to
seek out spiritual medium, or witch,
or any thing that you please to call it--at
any rate woman who had communica-
ton with the spirits of the eternal world.
1t was very difficult thing to do, for Saul
had either slain all the witches or COM
peeled them to stop business. A servant
one day said to King Saul:
81 know of a spiritual medium down at
the village of Endor,"
''Do you?" said the King. Night falls.
Saul, putting off his kinglyrobes and put
ting on the dress Of plain citizen, with
two servants, goes out to hunt up this
spiritual medium. 1t was no easy thing
FOR Saul to disguise himself, for the tall
est people in the country only came up to
his shoulder and / think from the strength
of the man and the way he bore himself,
he must have been well prOportioned. II
must have been frightful thing to see a
man walking along in the night eight or
nine feet high. | 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 plain dress there really was
passing the King.
Saul and his servants after awhile reach
the village, and they say: 81 wonder if
this is the house?" and they look in and
they see the haggard, weird and shriyeled
spiritual medium sitting by the light, and
on the table seulptured images, and diyin-
ing rods, and poisonous herbs, and bot
ties, and vases. They say: eyes, 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: 'sWho 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 spiritual medium in all
the land. But Saul having sworn that no
harm shall come to her. she says:
"Weu, who shall bring up from the
dead?"
Saul says Bring up Samuel"
That was the prophet who had died a
little while before. l see her waving a
wand, or stirring up some poisonous
herbs in a cauldron, or hear her mutter-
ing over some incantations, or stamping
with her foot, as she cries out to the realm
of the dead: Samuel! Samuelw Lo, the
freezing horror The floor of the tene-
ment opens, and the gray hairs float up,
and the forehead, the eyes, the lips, the
shoulders, the arms, the feet, the entire
body of dead Samuel, wrapped in sepul-
chral robe, appear to the astonished group,
who stagger back and hold fast, and catch
their breath, and shiver with terror. The
dead prophet, white and awful from the
tomb, begins to move his ashen lips, and
he glares upon King Saul and cries out:
"What did you bring me up for? Why
did you break my long sleepy What do
you mean, King SAUL"
Saul, trying to compose and control
himself, makes this stammering and af-
frightened utterance, as he says to the
dead prophet:
''The Lord is against me, and / have
come to you for help. What shall dol"
The dead prophet stretched forth his
finger to King Saul and said:
"Die tomorrow! Come with me into
the sepulchre. | am going now. Come,
come with me !"
And 10! the floor again opens and the
feet Of the dead prophet disappear, and
the arms, and the shoulders, and the fore
head. The floor closes. Nothing is left
in the room but Saul and the two servants,
and the spiritual medium, and the sculpt-
ured images, and the divining rods, and
the bottles, and the vases, and the poison
Gus herbs. Oh, that was an awful seance J
| learn first from this subject that Spir-
itualism 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,
getting 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, N. Y,
when one night there was a loud rap
heard against the door of Michael Week
man; a rap a second time, a rap third
time; and all three times, when the door
was opened, there was nothing found
there, the knocking having been made
seemingly by invisible knuekles. 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, ghOstly suspicions We're ex-
cited. After awhile Mr.. Fox and his
family moved into that house, and then
every night there was banging at the
door, and one night Mr.. Fox said
care you u spirit:" Two raps, answer
ing in the affirmative.
"Are you an injured spirit?" Two raps,
answering in the affirmative. And so they
'ound out as they say, that it was the
ghost or spirit Of peddler who had beeh
murdered in that house, many years
before, for his five hundred dollars.
Whether the ghost of the dead peddler
had come there to collect his five hundred
dollars or his bones l can not say, not
being a Spiritualist, but there was great
racket at the door, so Mr.. Weekman de-
clared, and Mrs. Weekman and Mr.. Fox
and Mrs, Fox, and all the little Foxes.
The excitement spread. There was an
universal rumpus. The Hon. Judge Ed
wards declared in a book that he had
actually seen bell start from the top
shelf of a closet, heard it ring over the
people that were standing in the closet;
then, swung by invisible hands, it rang
over the people in the back parlor; and
floated through the folding doors to the
front parlor, rmg over the people there
aud then dropped 10 the floor.
N. +. Talmage, Senator CT the United
States, afterwards Governor OF Wiscon-
sin, had his head completely turned with
spiritualistic demonstrations. a man as