The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-05-03

In the closet then, swung ny lnVl5l Ne
hands, 1t 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 dronpel on tn
floor. N. p. Talmage, SEN tor o the
United States, afterwards Cove nor OF
Wisconsin, had his head completely
turned with SpirituAlstic de nonstr
tlons. A man as he was p1sslng alon
the road, said that he was lifted mp bo
lily and carried toward his home thrlu l.
the air, at such great speed he could no
count the posts on the fAnce as b
passed and as he had handsaw and
square in his hand, they beat s b
passed through the air, most delightful
music. And the tables tipped, and tn
stools tilted, and the bedsteads raised
and the chairs upset, and it seemed rs il
the spirits everywhere had gone into tn
furniture business Well, the OPT
said: "We have got something new III
this country; it is new religion" g.
no, my friends. Thousands OF years ago
we find in our text Spiritualistic se
ance.
Nothing in the Spiritualistic circles OF
our day has been more strange, mystic
rious, and wonderful than things which
have been seen in the past centuries o!
the world. In all the ages there have
been necromancers, those who consult
with the spirits OF the departed charm
ers, those who put their sub ects in
mesmeric state sorcerers those who by
taking poisonous drugs see everything
and hear everything and tell everything,
dreamers, who in their sleeping moments
can see the future world and hold con
sultation with spirits; astrologers, who
could read a new dispensation in tine
stars; experts in palmistry, who can tell
by the lines in the palm of your hand
your origin and your history. From
cave on Mount Parnassus, we are told,
there was an exhalaton that intoxicated
the sheep and the goats that came any
where near it, and shepherd appro CHI
ing it was thrown by that exhalaron into
an excitement in which he could for ell
future events and hold consultation with
the spiritual world. Yea, before the time
OF Christ the Brahmins went through all
the table-moving all the furniture eSrite-
ment, which the spirits have exploited
in our day precisely the same thing
over and over again, under the manipu-
lations of the Brahmins. Now do you
say that Spiritualism is different from
these? answer, all these delusions /
have mentioned belong to the same
family. They are examinations from the
unseen world. What does Go think OF
all these delusions He thinks so Sc
verely OF them, that he never speaks OF
them but with livid thunders OF indigna-
ton. He says II will be a swift wit
ness against the sorcerer." He says
"Thou shalt not suffer witch to live"
AndIlest you might make some important
wiJchCraft God says, in so many worls
"There shall not be among you con-
sultor OF familiar spirits, or wizard, or
things are an abomination unto the
Lord" And he says again: "rhe soul
OF those who seek after such as have
familiar spirits, and who going Nhoring
after them, l will st mys IF a yainst them,
and he shall be cut off fro among his
people" The Lord Almighty, in a score
o. passages, which 1 have not now time
to quote, utters his indignation against
all this great family OF delusions. After
that, be Spiritualist if you dare
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 ior relief. After a while he re-
solved to go and see the witch Of I'm dor
He expected that somehow she would
afford him relief 1t was his trouble
that drove him there. And l have to
tell you now that Spiritualism finds its
victims in the troubled, the bankrupt,
the sick, the bereft. You lose your
watch and you go to the fortune-teller to
ind where it is. You lose friend, you
want the spiritual world opened, so that
you may have communication with him.
In a highly-wrought, nervous, an / dis
eased state OF mind you go and put your
self in that communication. That is
Why l hate Spiritualism. It takes ad-
vantage of one in moment OF weak
ness, which may come upon us at any
time. We lose friend. The trial is
keen, sharp, suffocating, almost maiden
ing. If we could marshal a host, and
storm the eternal world, and recapture
our loved one, the host would soon be
marshaled. The house is So lonely The
world is so dark. The separation is so
insuh'erable.
But Spiritualism says: owe 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 hand. So clear the table. Sit
down. Put your hands on the table Be
very quiet. Five minutes gone. Ten
minut s. No motion OF the table. No
response from the future world. Twenty
minutes. Thirty minutes Nervous
excitement all the time increasing.
Forty minutes. The table shivers. Two
raps from the future world. The letters
OF the alphabet are called over. The de-
parted friends name is John. At the
pronunciation of the letter "i," two raps.
At the pronunciation of the letter 90"
two raps. At the pronunciation of the
letter "h," two raps. At the pronuncia.
ton of the letter IN" two raps. There
you have the whole name spelled out.
John, John. Now, the spirit being
present, you say: "John, are you happy?S
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 fur
nished, message from the eternal world.
What is remarkable, the departed spirit,
although it has been amid the illumina.
tions OF heaven, cannot spell as well as it
used to. 1t has lost all grammatical ac.
curacy, and cannot write as distinctly. l
received letter through medium once.
l sent it back. l said "Just please to
tell those ghosts they had better 90 to
school and get improved in their Or
biography" Now, just think OF spirits
that the Bible represents as enthronedin
glory, coming down to crawl under the
table, and break crockery, and ring tea
bells before supper is ready, and rap the
window shutter on a gusty night. Is
there any consolation in such poor, miser-
able work compared with the thought
that our departed Christian friends, got
rid of pain and languishing, are in the
radiant society Of heaven, and that we