The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-05-11

l
said:
''We have got something new in this
country; it is a new religion
Oh, no, my friends. Thousands Of
years ago we find in our text spiritual
istic seance.
/ Nothing in the spiritualistic circles Of
our day has been more strange, mys-
terious and wonderful than things which
have been seen in the past centuries of
| the world. In all the ages there have been
/ necromancers, those who consult with the
| spirits of the departed charmers; those
/ who put their subjects in a mesmeric
| state; sorcerers, those who, by taking
| poisonous drugs, see every thing and hear
| every thing and tell every thing; ;dreamers,
! people who in their sleeping moments can
/ see the future world aud hold consultation
with spirits; astrologers, who could read
/ a new dispensation i'll the stars; experts
| in palmistry, who can tell by the lines in
the palm of your hand your origin and
! history. From a cave on Mount Pan mas
/ sus, we are told, there was an exhalation
/ that intoxicated the sheep and the goats
that came anywhere near it, and shep-
/ herd approaching it was thrown by that
exhalatiOn into an excitement in which he
could foretell future events and hold con-
| sultation with the spiritual world. Yea,
/ before the time OF Christ the Brahmins
went through all the table-moving, all the
| furniture excitement, which the spirits
have exploited in our day; precisely the
same thing over and over again, under
the manipulations of the Brahmins. Now
do you say that Spiritualism is different
! from these? / answer, all these delusions
1 have mentioned belong to the same fam
lily. They are exhumations from the un-
seen world.
What does God think of all these delu-
sions? He thinks so severely of them that
he never speaks of them but with liyid
thunders of indignation. He says;
will be a swift witness against the sorcerer
He says:
| Thou shalt not suffer witch to live.
And lest you might make some fmpor-
| tant distinction between Spiritualism and
witchcraft, God says, in so many words:
There shall not be among you consulter Of
| familiar spirits, or wizard, or necromancer; for
| they that do these things are On abominAtion
| unto the Lord.
The Lord Almighty, in a score of pas
sages, which have not now time to quote,
utters his indignation against all this
great family of delusions. After that be
a Spiritualist if you darel
Still further, we learn from this text
how it is that people come to fall into
Spiritualism. Saul had enough trouble to
kill ten men. He did not know where to
go for relief. After awhile he resolved to
go and see the Witch of Endor. He ex-
pected that somehow she would afford
| him relief. It was his trouble that drove
! him there. And 1 have to tell you now
that Spiritualism finds its victims in the
troubled, the bankrupt, the sick, the be-
reft. You lose your watch, and you go to
| the fortune teller to find where it is. You
lose friend, you want the spiritual world
| opened, so that you may have communi-
cation with him. In a highly wrought,
| nervous and diseased state of mind you
go and put yourself in that communica-
tion. That is why 1 hate Spiritualism. 1t
takes advantage Of one in a moment Of
weakness, which may come upon us at
any time. We lose friend. The trial is
keen, sharp, suffocating, almost madden
ing. If we could marshal host and
storm the eternal world and recapture our
loved one the host would soon be mar
shaled.. The house is so lonely. The
world is so dark. The separation is SO in
sufferabIe.
But SpirituaIism says:
eve will open the future world, and
your loved one can come back and talk to
You"
Though we may not hear his voice, we
may hear the rap of his hands on the ta-
BILE. So, clear the table. Sit down. Put
your hands on the table. Be very quiet.
Five minutes gone. Ten minutes gone.
No motion of the table. No response from
the future world Twenty minutes. Thir-
ty minutes. Nervous excitement all the
time increasing. Forty minutes. The table
shivers. Two raps from the future world.
p The letters of the alphabet are called
over. The departed friends name is John.
At the pronunciation Of the letter 81"
two raps. At the pronunciation Of the let
ter CO." two raps. At the pronunciation
} of the letter 'H," two raps. At the pro-
n
There you have the whole name spelled
out. J-o-h-n, John. Now, the spirit be-
! ing present, you say
"John, are you happy"
Two raps give an affirmative answer.
Pretty soon the hand of the medium be-
| gins to twitch and toss and begins to write
! out, after paper and ink are furnished, a
message from the eternal world. What is
: remarkable, the departed spirit although
it has been amid the illuminatiOns OF
, Heaven, can not spell as well as IL used to.
, 1t has lost all grammatical accuracy and
can not write as distinctly. / received a
, letter through medium once. sent il
: back. | said:
s'Just please to tell those ghosts they
had better 90 to school and get improved
in their photography"
Now, Just think of spirits, that the Bible
represents as enthrOned in glory, coming
, down to crawl under the table, and breal
crockery, and ring tea bells before supper
is ready, and rap the window shutter on q
gusty night. Is there any consolation il
such poor, miserable work compared
, with the thought that our departed Chris
tran friends, got rid of pain and lSnguish-
, ing, are in the radiant society Of Heaven
! and that we shall Join them there, not II
! a stihed and mysterious half utterance
which makes the hair stand on end anC
y H.r44 IN
: unhindered and i9limitable delight?
And none shall murmur or misdohbt.
, When Gods great sunrise finds US out.
Yes, my friends, Spiritualism comes tC
those who are in trouble and sweeps then
into its delusions. Saul, in the midst Oi
: his disaster, went to the Witch Of Endor
The vast majority Of those who have gone
to spiritual mediums have been sent there
through their misfortunes
learn still farther from this subjec
|, that Spiritualism and necromancy are af
: | fairs Of the darkness. Why did not Sau
. / go in the day? He was ashamed TO go
: / Besides that ne knew that this spiritual
medium, like all her successors, per
, formed her exploits in the night Th'
4 Davenports, the Fowlers, the Foxes, th'
! spiritual mediums Of all ages, have chosel
; the night or a darkened room. Why
: The majority Of their wonders have beer
= swindles, and deception prospers best II
. the night.
a Some Of the performances Of spiritua
: mediums are not to be ascribed to fraud
d but to some occult law that after a Will
p may be demonstrated. But / believe tina
Q now nine hundred and ninety mine out o
i; every one thousand achievements on Tn
2 part Of spiritual mediums are arrant an
d unmitigated humbug. The mysteriou
e red letters that used 20 come out ON th
e mediums arm were found 20 have beef
made by an iron pencil that went heavil
d over the flesh, not tearing IL, but 50 dis
l. turbing the blood that il came up Ia greai
.r.aA- IL Z