Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-19
SERMON OF A LAYMAN.
The Mental Phenomena of Mr.. Cordingly
at Fort Worth Opera House-The
Psychic Medium of Man.
For the Gazette,

For the Gazette.
I read in your paper this morning of the
exhibitions given by Mr. COrdinglv the last
Sabbath in the opera house. They have
not been witnessed by me nor do know
the particular religious faith of him and
his associates, farther than that they are
SpiritualiStS. I therefore write this arti-
Gle not to criticise them, but to see if we
may not arrive at some reason demon stra-
bic by ordinary means, as opposed to the
extraordinary. which borders on the super
natural. Anything is a miracle that IS I'M
common, or so uncommon as to cause the
observer to fall back upon the miraculous
as a reason for it. l take it that those eX-
hibitions are the result of an occult quality
in the human mind, not yet made plain to
the mass of mankind. The society of phvSl-
cal research is a regular organization at
work on these new phases Of the mind of
man, and the report of the result of their
investigations is published from time to
time broadcast for the benefit of mankind.
These reports are as yet read by only few
because results are not yet sufficiently clear
TO arrive at conclusions that establish gen.
eral rules on which mankind can rest as
fixed facts from this inductive method of
reasoning, That is, the multiplications of
facts acting after an established line of sue
cessive events for sufficient length OF
time to make the rule of action a law of
the mind This much has thus far been
established and promulgated. That there
is medium of sense in man which is
called the psychic medium-the soul me-
dunn, from the Greek word psyche, soul.
That this medium exists as subtle es-
sence, which is so far material that it en-
certain natures of being so directly
transferred to other natures imam
and the lower animals) as to
produce certain results on their organisms.
For instance medium can cause others
to taste as he tastes, see as ne sees and
feel as he feels, though distance separates
them, sometime for many PAGES in distant
rooms and entirely away from the acting
cause. This is an essence and emanates
from the person as the light goes out from
the freely or from the glow-worm. l use
these illustrations in no 0isreSpect to
any one, but as in the opinion of the
writer, the most forcible examples of this
principle of the human mind, sometimes
called the sixth sense or the missing sense
the sense Of second sight-the seer's
sense, which you see all through the
sacred writ, coming down through the
seers first and then the prophets of God.
1t then goes back to this. That man
originally was so pure that he could see
God. Christ says blessed are the pure
in heart for they shall see God" This, in
the opinion of the writer, is what is meant
by Enoch walking with God. His nature
was so pure and transparent, so guileless
that truth shone through him as q light
and lighted up his entire nature. Go back
farther. In the beginning God made man
pure and set the world be. ore him TO have
dominion over it but ch lrged him that
| there was q principle of OWL which he
was at liberty to embrace or let alone,
man, being a free agent, was turned loose
as the father does his son at majority,
| and says now you have this great estate
! to use at will, you can either make or break
| Yourself Then man was pure. His
| nature was so transparent that he could
| see God and God could commune with him.
| Then the serpent allured him, which is
| nothing more than the sensual principle
| personifed, to allow the then childlike
/ mind of man to catch on in his infant
| days, when Moses wrote of it. The serpent
beguiled him. His sensual nature chose
| the qualification of the material tastes to
| the withholding them by abstinence end
! his mind was dsrkened. The serpent was