The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1888-05-10
MODERN SPlRlTuALlSn.
DR.: Talmage Unmasks tho Mediums
tic Charlatans Who Prey Upon
Weak Humanity.


tic Charlatans Who Prey Upon
Weak Humanity.
Their Victims Found Among tho
Troubled, the Bankrupt, tho
sick, and the Derefe.
After the Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage. D. D.,
on the Goth ult., had, IN his weli-known
manner, expounded the scriptures, the
multitude of people who thronged the taber-
naclc and oil its entrances, packing every
available space of standing and sitting room,
united in singing:
Salvation let the echo hy
The spacious earth around,
While all the armies Of the sky
Conspire to raise the sound.
DIR. Talmage announced his subject:
''Modern spiritualism.''. He took Flor his
text:
Behold there is woman that hath familiar
spirit at Endor: And Saul disguised himself, and
put on other raiments. and he went and two men
with him, and they come to the woman by night
md he said. | pray thee divine unto me by the
uame unto thee.'-L Samuel xviii, rs
Following is the sermon in full:
1 have recently become a spiritualist At
least SO some of the journals of that belief
declare. This, together with the fact that
''mediums' arc now being tried in the GRIM
inal 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 Lett Of him, Saul knew not what to do.
As n last resort he concluded to seek out a
spirit,,a: medium, or 4 witch, or 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 day said to King
Saul: 81 know OF a spiritual medium down
at the village Of En-dor." ''Do you:'' said
tie king. Night falls. Saul, putting off his
kingly robes and putting on tie dress of a
hunt up this spiritual medium: 1t was no
easy thing for Saul to disguise himself, for
the talIest people i'll 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 proportion
ed. 1t must have been frightfnl
thine; to see a man walking along in
as the people saw: HIM pass, they said:
"Wbo Il tl.ats lie is as tall az the king"
having no idea that in such 4
plain dress there really was passing the
king. Saul and his servants after awhile
reach the village, and they say: II wonder
see the haggard, weird, and shriveled up
spiritual medium sitting by the light, and
on the table sc,lpt,rcd images. and divning
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
here:" The tall king informs her that he
has come to have his fortune told. When
she hears that she tremblcs and almost drops
the light, for she knows there is no chance
for a fortunc.teller OF spiritual medium in
all the land. But Saul, having sworn that
who shall l bring up from the dead?" Saul
says: "Brng up Samuel That was the
prophet who had died little while before.
sec her waving a wand, or stirring up some
poisonous herbs in caldron, Or hear her
muttering over some lamentations, or stamp
the dead: samuel! Samuel?" 10 the
freezing horror The floor Of the tenement
opens and the gray hairs float up, and the
forehead, the eyes, the lips, the shoulders,
the arms, the feet, the entire body of dead
Samuel; wrapped IN sepulchral robe, APP
pcaring to the astonishcd group, who stay
ger back, and hold fast, and catch their
breath and shiver with terror. The dead
prophet, white and awful from the tomb, be
| gins to move his ashen lips, and he glares
| upon King Saul, and cries out: ''What did
YOU bring me up for? Why did you break
! my long sleep? What do you mean, King
Saul?" Saul, trying to compose and control
| ed utterance, as lie says to the dead prophet:
''Thc Lord is against me and have come to
! you for help. What shall do?'' The dead
prophet stretched forth his finger to King
Saul and said: ''Die. Tomorrow! Come
with me into the sepulchcr. I am going
| floor again opens and the feet of the dead
| prophet disappear. and the arms, and tho
| shoulders, and the forehead. The floor
| closes. Nothing is left in the room but Saul
| and the two servants and the spiritual meui-
UNI, and the scupturcd images, and the di.
! vining rods, and the bottles, and the vases,
| and the poisonous herbs. Oh, that was an
awful seance!
learn first from this subject that Spirits
alism is very old religion. 1t is natural
that people should want to know the origin
and the history of doctrine which is 50 wide.
spread 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 tingcd.
| Spirituaism in America was horn in 1S47,
In Hydcsville, Wayne County, N. Y, when
one night there was loud rap heard against
the door of 2ilchael Weekman; rap a
second time, rap third time, and all three
times, 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 young wo.
man who had q cold hand passed over her face
and there being seemingly no arm attached
to 1t, ghostly suspicious were:excited. Afte,
| Ia and hi r,n, s1ny
that house, and then every night there was q
banging at the door, and one night Mr.. Fox
said: |'Are you a spirit?' Two raps, answer
ing in the affirmative. care you an injured
| spirit" Two raps, answering in the affirm.
alive. And SO they found out, as they say,
who had been murdered in that house many
years before for bis $500. Whether the
| ghost of the dead peddler had been there tc
collect mis- $500 or his bones, cannot saw
not being q spiritualist; but there was
great racket at the door, SO Mr.: Weekman de.
clared, and Mrs. Weekman, and Mr.. and Mrs
Fox, and allbthe. little Foxes. The excitemcn,
spread. There was universal rump1s
Hon. Judge Edmoads declared, in 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 thu
people in the back parlor and floated through
|
over the people there, and then dropped OF
the floor. n. p. Talmase, senator of thu
United States, afterward governor Of Wis
consin, had his head completely turned will
spiritualistic demonstrations. A man as h,
was passing along the road said that he wa
lifted up bodily and carried toward hi
home through the air at such great speed III
could not count the posts on the fence as III
passed; and as he had handsaw and
square in his hand they beat, as he passed
through the air, most delightful music. Ant
the tables tipped, and the stools tilted, ant
the bcdstcads raised, and the chairs upset
and it seemed as if the spirits everywhere hat
gone into the furniture business! Well, thu
people said. awe have got something new
III this country; it is new religion" Oh
no, my friends. Thousands Of years ago ",
find in our text spiritualistic scarce.
Nothing in the spirit,lalistic circles of OIL
day has been more strange, mysterious, AM
wonderful than things which have beer
seen in the past centuries Of the world. II
all the ages there have been necromancers
7 those who consult with the spirits Of the de
parted; cl,armers, those who put their sub
jects in 4 inesmcric state; sorcerers, thos'
who by taking poisonous drugs see every