New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-22
THE DISS DEBAR
PICTURES OF THE PRINCIPAL FIGURES EN-
GAGGED IN HER TRIAL

narve that evor stood by chariatan In his hour OF
need, and having deceived and imposed upon mr.
Luther r. Marsh, she actually starts out 10 hoouwihA
the whole town, Judge, press, people ana all iho'o
pctures she says we're painted by spirits from another
worldthat is her defence, and she has evioehty con-
WINGED her lawyers that II be not good one IS az
least the best they can present Lawyer HOWE, her
prosecutor on the contrary declares that she sto to
pictures from the late Mr. Lowenherz ana even MINIS
that the circumstances Of Mr. Lowenherzs ueath sug
gest poison. Against all this, the woman s'ahus ~
serene as summer day, placid as pool ana says,
mo- am a medium of the Deity. suhcr ior nis
sake. / look TO Him for my vindlcation rom moss
persecutlons. They were spirit hands that painted
those pcturess The spirit hands, however, had
evdent access to ordinary oil paints and their WORK VIII
be brought into court next week
Man. say the morallsts, is essentially religious
animal They mean, suppose, that he KNOWS 'ha' no
doesn't know much, that no can do very httie, 'nas
the presence Of all he sees about him IS convincing -
TO the existence OF intelligence and power superor
TO his and that the sentiment Of reverence Tor superior
fly is natural and universal Shls is creed upon
which PAGAN Mussulman and Christian alke may
stand Upon IT, indeed, all other creeds arc ROUNDED
and Willis many OF them seem rather extravagant In
detail yet no man can be he'd in censure Tor MS honest
convictions Last summer at Lake George met 10
ebtf,l indian from Lahore and talked OF Brahmln
ism and the Ramayana. 1t was not booktaA no
was telling from The standpoint OF believer Oh tne
ipcarnations of ylshnu and Just what an. educated
Brahmln believes, and was extracting from the suOe
epic those articles of faith which are essential creed
Sitting on my knee was small boy OF that unfortunate
species which seems incapable Of being awed Dy any
thing He was intensely Interested In tho lhulahs
dramatic stories but he utterly failed TO appreciate
their religious significance. When my fend toiu Vi
Ramas magnificent struggles with the demon havana
in which tine god called the monkey, Hanaman to his
h. NJ tha
md elastic tail brought rocks from tho Hlmalayas
wherewth to bridge the sea- the small boys eyes stood
out In wonder lie fetched long sigh when me STORY
was done and pipcd out. " II had tall wot couo
let out and take In Hathaway ia wrap IL arouH 'no
boiler of Cap'en Nose Finkels steamboat up there on
the lake an tow him down here SO QUICK no "ou'u"
know what allied hlm"
tried hard not to laugh for could sec that my
Hndoo friend was shocked but he had to forgive me
slight grin Now that was the way In which sublime
religious miracle struck the mind OF Young America
A few weeks later heard distinguished clergyman
use these words therefore declare 1t to be truth
of revealed religion that baptism is necessary to sav
tom" and wondered what my Brahmn with nus
notious Of Deity heroic and a humanity all loving
and system in which eternal happiness Is purchased
by virtuous and valorous living, would have thought
OF that.
Belief is so much and so evidently the result Of
education that dssldonce must be mistaken for
deprayity and any comments in this column upon that
form of faith which makes such miserable creatures as
the Dlss Debars possible must not be consuereu DO
directed in any offensive way against splrltuaAisn.
Tr,e IL "a that moro uncomfortable faith Is difficult
to imagine than that Is liable at unseemy hours
to be visited by shadOwy guests whose presence IS
neither welcome nor accountable, but then IL people
must believe It, It would be IN violation Of the spirit
of the age to hold their faith to their dscredit NO
spirtuallst was more sincere or moro convinced
than the late Judge Edmunds, and his legal DECISIONS
anything were clearer aud sounder after he esposed
splrtuallsm than before. Certainly they were Just
as much respected. / have In mind lady OF wealth
and education, much devoted TO the pleasures OF
society and in no way given to absurdtles who has
often and solemnly assured me that she has many
tmes received visits from her who was my school,
mate. She says he appears to her always when her
mind Is troubled and seems to caress her, ana oiten
when there is ostenslble reason for bis coming
1t IS rarely upon such people as these, however,
that the sharpers and adventurers of the Dss Debar
TYNE play their swindllng games. Their victims are
among the sUperstous rather than the religious and
ri ht here in this city Of progressive thought and hee
schoos, in this age Of common sense and enlightenment
they openly ply their trade. We have laws to punish
bunco thieves, forgers and other knayes who MAKE
living out Of peoples credulity, but the seventh son
of the seventh SOM goes merry on with his idlotic
and silly people who want the aid of spirits to get
them out OF scrapcs without let or hindrance
Had the Diss Debar confined her impostons to this
class of willing subjects she would probably have kept
out Of trouble, but when She began to WIND her net
about such golden victim as Luther r. Marsh her
cupdlty got the better of her discretion She Is
huge odooldng creature everywhere superintendent
as to flesh, with black oily hair and face upon which
rests an expression Of the most serene and placid Inn
pudence ever saw. Her claim to be the daughter Of
Lola Montez and King Ludwig Is sad libel on that
dark nghfOoted beauty, and If spirits are capable OF
resentment well as of art-work Lola should make
the Dlss Debar pay heavily for such fragrant outrage
Even royal harot might be supposed to have acer-
tain pride of pCstery and lola ought not to rest I'M
der this imputation.
The Dlss Debar's examination at the Tombs last
week was highly exciting An audience had collected
such as that grim building rarely contains. There
seemed 10 be few persons present who from their man
ncr or appearance could DO suspected of entertaining
spirtnalistc faith There were twenty or thirty
women, well dressed and more or less agreeable to
look at but they showed only An amused interest in
the Diss Debar. Generally speaking, the friends OF
Mr.. Marsh stopped away. They probably did not wish
TO witness his humiliation Lawyers and guests Of that
curious legal firm whose senior partner Is conducting
the prosecution composed the audience mainly, max
Ing up an intelligent and attentive crowd
Tie entrance Of the Diss DeLar was Somewhat
dramatic. The Dell IN lie IODlDS cOuftyNu sounded
out five times. Tho heavy iion door which opens
from the court room upon the Bridge Of Signs was
thrown wide upon It's hinges and officer in uniform
stood ON either side of the doorway At this moment big
Mr. Howe and little Mr.. Hummel pushed their way
through the crowded room and took their places at
the prosecutors table. Justice Kilbreth, remarkably
handsome man for police magistrate, stepped In
from q slle door and assembled tho bench. Then,
when all these formalltles, carefully arranged before
hand BY those clever fellows, Howe and Hummel-
who are bound to make their first appearance prose-
cutors under circumstances which shall cause 1t to
be remembered-had been gone through in the way
most calculated to excite interest, four officers entered
with chairs crying, Fall backl Room for the prls-
onersts Had the Dlss Debar been Minister OF
State on ttia for high treason, she could not have
a more painful attention. The prison
bell sounded out again louder than before, and pre-
coded by a member of Byrnes's stan, she made her
sta tsay entrance She gathered her fat form up to
all the height OF which 1t was capable. She held her
head higher IN the air and marched rather than walked