Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-04-30
TABERNACLE SERVICES.
REV. DR.. TALMAGs DlSCoURSES ON
MODERN SPIRITUAllSM.

Nittims-The Rtble Is Enough Tor Us TO
KNOW of the Future.
BROOKLYN. April a9-After the Rev. T.
De WITT Talmage, ID. D., had in his well
known manner expounded the Scriptures, the
multitude of people who throng the Taber-
nacle and all the entrances, packing every
available space of standing and sitting room,
united in singing:
Salvation! let the echo fly
The spacious earth around
While all the armies of the sky
Conspire to raise the sound.
DIR. Talmage announced his subject, "Mod-
ern Spiritualism." He took for his text,
Behold there is a woman that Lath famil-
lar spiri, at En-ior. And Saul disguised him
self and put on other raiment, and he went,
and two men with him, and they came to the
woman by night, and he said, pray thee
divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and
bring me him up whom l shall name unto
theen-I Samuel xviii, !, s. Following is
the sermon in full:
have recently become a 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 communication 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 a
spiritual medium, or witch, ANYTHING
that you please to call her-at any rate, a
woman who had communication with the
spirits of the eternal world. 1t was a 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: Il know OF spiritual medium down
1t the village of En-dor" do your said the
king Night falls. Saul putting off his
kingly robes, and putting on the dress of a
plain citizen, with two servants goes out TO
hunt up this spiritual medium IL was no
easy thing for Saul to disguise himself, for
the tall,st 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 proportional 1t must nave been
frightful thing to see 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 tail 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: ii wonder if this is
the house, and they look in and see the
haggard, weird and shriveled up spiritual
medium sitting by the light, and on the Ia
BILE scuiptured images, and divining rods,
and poisonous herbs and bottles, and vases.
They 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 darkness, she says:
WHO is herer 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 fortune teller or spiritual
medium in all the land. But Saul, having
sworn that no harm shall come TO her, she says:
"Well, who shall bring up from the deadr
Saul saws: Bring up Samuel" That was
the prophet who had died q little while be-
fore / see her waving a wand, or stirring
up some poisonous herbs in a caldron, or
near nIutteriug over some incantations, or
Stamping with her foot, as she cries out to
he realm OF the dead: Samuel Samuelr'
10. the freezing horrorl The floor of the
| tenement opens, and the gray hairs float up,
ald the forehead, the eyes, the lips, the
| shoulders, the arms, the feet. the entire body
| If dead Samuel, wrapped in sepulchral robe,
appearing to the astonished group, who
,tagger 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
Ipon King Saul, and cries out:
s'What did YOU bring me up fort Why did
sou break my long sleep? What do you
mean, King SaulG' Saul, trying to compose
and control himself, makes this stammering
and affrighted utterance, as he says to the
lead prophet: The Lord is against me, and
have come to You for help. What shall
loln The dead prophet stretched forth his
inger to King Saul and said: ''Die to-mor-
,ow! Come with me into the sepulcher l
am going now. Come, come with me-" And
10. the floor again opens, and the feet of the
lead prophet disappear, and the arms, and
:he shoulders, and the forehead. The floor
Closes Nothing is left in the room but Saul
and the two servants, and the spiritual me
iium, and the sculptured images, and the
iivining rods and the bottles, and the vases,
and the poisonous herbs. Oh, that was an
| awful seance!
| learn first from this subject that spir-
| itualism is a very old religion 1t is natural
| shat 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 doctrine with which
many of you are already tinged.
SpiritCalism in America was born in 1S47,
| in Hydesville, Wayne county, \. Y, when
pne night there was a loud rap heard against
| .hc door of Michael Weekman; a rap a sec
| md time. a rap a third time; and all three
.iucs, when the door was opened, there was
nothing found there, the knocking having
been made seemingly by invisible knuckles.
| In that same house there was a Young woman
who had n cold hand passed over her face, and
there being seemingly no arm attached to 1t,
yhostly suspicious were excited. After
lwhile 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: Are you a spiritf' Two raps, ans
swering in the affirmative. Are you an
| Injured spiritr Two raps, answering in the
affirmative. And SO they found out, as they
say, that it was the ghost or spirit of ped
| Her who had been murdered in that house
many years before for his $500. Whether
the ghost of the dead peddler had come
there to collect his $500, or his bones. can
not say, not being Spiritualist; but there
was a great racket at the door, so Mr..
Weelman declared, and Mrs. Weekmau
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 a book, that he had
actually seen bell start from the top shelf
Of 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
tho folding doors to the front parlor,
rung over the people there. and then
dropped on the floor. n P. Talmage.
senator of the United States, afterwards
governor of Wisconsin, had his head
] liStic