The Forrest City times., 1888-05-05
Modern Mediums, However, Simply Work for Lucre and Are Tried in the Courts
 for Thcir Brazsn Mendaoity.

of Them But With Livid Thunders of In dignation.
 BRooKLrS April 29--After the Rev. T. Dewitt Ta'mage. D. D., had in bis well-known manner expounded the Scriptures, the multi Iude Of people who throng the Tabernacle snd all through the entrances, packing every available space of standing and sitting room. inlted In singing;
 "salvaiion! let the echo fly
 Tho spacious earth around,
 whge on Inc armies of the sky
 Consplre to raise the sound"
 Dr. Talmage announced his subject: Mod ,rn Spirituallsm.n Ne took for hls text: 'Behold, there Is a woman that hath ia niliar spirit at En-dor. And Saul disguised Alnself, and put on other raiment, and he vent, and two men with him and they camc lo the woman by night; and he said, pray Ihee, divine unto me the familiar spirit and bring me him up, whom l shall name unto Ihee"-I Samuel XIV fiji. :, 8. Following is Inc sermon in full:
 l have recently become sprltualist. At east so some of the journals of that belief declare. This together with the fact that "mediums' are now being tried in the crlm- maj courts, setting millions of people to make Inquiry in regard to commun nicaton between this world and the next leads me to preach this sermon.
 Trouble to the right of hin, and .roat.c 10 Inc left of him, Saul knew not what to do. As last resort, be concluded to seek out 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 a very difficult thing to do, for Saul bad either slain all the witches, or compelled them to stop business. A servant, one day, said to kirg Sauli 'I kpow of s spiritual medium down at the village of Ep-dor." Do youih said the king. Night falls. Saul. put ting of his klngly robes, and putting on the dress of plain citizen. with two servants, goes out to hunt up this spiritual medium. IL was no easy thing for Saul to disguise him self, for the fHlcst people in the country ouly came up to his shoulder, and 1 think from the strength ol the man and the way he bore him self, he must have been well proportoned. It must have been frightful thing to see a man waking along in the night eight or nine feet high, suppose, as the people saw him pass, they sald. "Who is thats He Is as tall as the king"-havlug 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: 'l wonder If this is the house;p and they look in and they see the haggard, weird and shrlvelled up spiritual medium sitting by the light, and on the table sculptured images, and divinlng 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 peerfnQ out into the dark ness, she says; "Who is herer' The tall king informs her that he has come to have his fortune told. When she hears that, she .Fuyn m hiaS aud aft lfrlst knows there is no chNnce for fortune teller or splritusl med um in all the land. But Saul having sworn that no harm shall come to her, she saysi Well, who shall |. bring up from tho deadr1 Saul says:' Firing up Samuel" That was the prophet. who had died little while before. see her waving wand, or stirring up some poison ous herbs in a cauldron, or hear muttering over some incantatiOns, or stamping with her foot as she cries out to the realm of the dead. Samuel! Samueli" Lo, the freez- ing horror The floor of the tenement opens, and the grey hairs float up, and the forehead, the eyes, tho lips, the shoulders, the arms, the feet, the entire body of dead Samuel, wrapped in sepulchral robe, appearing to the astonshed group who stagger back and hold fast, and catch their breath, and shiver with terror. The dead prophet, white and awful from tho tomb begins, to move bis ashen lips, and he gares upon King Saul, and cries out; What did you bring me up fort Why
 
 mean King Saulp' Saul trying to compose and control himself makes this stammering and ahrighted utterance, as he says to the dead prophet: "The Lord is against me, snd l have come to you for help. What shall doP' The dead prophet stretched forth his finger 10 King Saul and said; "Dle to omor- TOW! Come with me into the sept 'chre. am going now. Come, come, come N th me !" And lol the floor again opens, and he feet of the dead prophet disappeared and the arms, fhA rlas floor closes. Nothing Is left In Inc room but Saul and the two servants, anl the spiritual medium, and the sculptured images and the dlvining rods, and the bottles, and the vases, and the posinous herbs. 0, that was an awful scenel
 l learn first from this subject that Spiritu- alism is very old religion. It IS natural that people should want to know the origin and the history Of doctrine which is so widespread in all the villages, towns, ting new converts every day--a doe Urine with which many of you are already tinged
 Spirltuallsm in America was born in 1S47, In Iiydesville, Wayne County, New York. when one night there was a loud rap heard against the door of Michael Weekman; a rap second time, rap q third lime; and all three times when the door was opened, there was nothing found there, the knocking hay- ing been made seemingly by invisible knuelk- les. Tn that same house mere was young woman who had cold hand passed over her face, and there being seemingly no arm at tached to it, ehostlY suspicious were excited. After a while NIT. Fox and his family moved into that honse, and then every night there was banging at tho door and one night Mr. Fox said: Are you a spiriti" Two raps, answering in tho affirmative. "Are you .an injured spritW 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. l cannot say, not being Spiritualist; but there was great racket at the door, so Mir. Weekman declared, and Mrs Weelman, and Mir. 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 lad actually seen a bell start from the top shelf Of closet, heard it ring over the peo- pie that was 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, rung over the people there, and then dropped on the floor. N. F. Tslmage, Senator Of the Unit ed States, afterwards Governor Of Wisconsin, had his head completely turned with spirit ualistc demonstrations. A man as he was passing along the road. said that he was lift ea up bodily, and carried toward his home through the ar, ar sucn great speed ne could not count the posts on the fence as he passed {; and as he had a handsaw and a square in his hand, they beat, as he passed through the air, most delightful music. And the tables tip ped, and the stools tilted, and the bedsteads raised. and the chairs upset, and lt seemed as if the spirits everywhere had gone into the furniture busiuessl We'll the people said: "We have got something new in this country; it is a new religion" 0 no, my friend. Thousands of years ago we find in cur text 8 Spiritualistic seance.
 Nothing in the Spirituallstic circles of our day has been more strange, mysterious and wonderful than things which have been seen in the pas. centuries of the world. In all the ages there have been necromancers, those who consult with the spirits of the departed chsrmers, those who put their subjects in a mesmeric state; sorcerers, those who by talk ing poisonous drugs sec everything and hear everything and tell everything; dreamers, peo- pie who in their sleeping moments can see inc future world and hold consultation with spirits; astrologers who could read a new dis. pensation in the stars; experts in palmistry, who can tell by the lines in the palm Of your hand your origin snd your history. From g cave on Mount Paruassus, we are told, there was an exhalation that intoxicated the