The sun., 1899-04-03
SAVAGE ON SPlRITUALISM.
ITS ESSENCE rs THE EASTER HOPE
or THE CHRISTI4N WORLD.

The Rev. DR.. MinotJ. Savage. at the Church
OF the Messiah yesterday morning, declared
his belief In Sriritualsm; but he took pains to
dsclaim the name Of Spiritualist. and he told
why.
DR.. savages subject was The Significance
Of Spirituallsm and It's Relations to the Easter
Hope The Scripture lesson was the account
OF Christ's appearance after His death. The
text was from |. Corinthians. xv. IA: IF Christ
be not risen. then our preaching Is vain. and
your faith Is also vain" The Significance OF
our Easter. DR.. Savage said. lay In this one
fact. that n man-whatever else he may have
been-after he hal passed through an expert
encs called death. had been seen. had COM
municated with his friends. and so had dem
onstrated that death is not the end OF con-
srious existence. He went on to say: This.
and this alone. Is the essence Of Spiritualism."
And then he added: 81 am saying nothing
whatever as to the truth OF this claim"
The belief OF the Easter time aud the claims
OF Spiritualisn were. he said, precisely the
same thing. and. II proved. would al the heart
OF man with great hone. He had been show
ing for some weeks past how the universal be-
lief OF life after death had existed always.
and had grown until the lives OF ordinary men
had been oyershadowed by it and the marks
OF other worldliness had characterized their
ives. Against that conception there had been
u reaction. that of tbs materialsts. and now
we were concerned with Il reaction against a
reaction. The materlali5ts had proved to
their own satisfaction that such ne was not
but the mass of the people. who love-and to
whom lite is as nothing without iove.ha.H love re-
had said that they, couldn't give up me trust
and the hope that they must believe, here. or
they couldn't live. 50. in spite OF tne methods
Of science. the great majority of the common
people had clung to the belief. and held that it
would be vindcat ed some time. somehow.
nr SAID that he had had the pleasure
Of talking the matter over with Whittier. and
knew that Whittier believed in the substance
and the essence OF Spiritualism. he quoted
SO is transition" Brown!ns. who "i.ared nos
Sf S "ss aH IN ann Of
death with Joy. as showing that most OF the
poets who had touched human life had ~ sHnE sME OF
hore and life. not OF despair and death. Or hit
stood. i do not know Of more than two other
men in the. history Of this world-Jesus and
Socrates-who. 40 untinchinely, SO conquer
ingly. met old age; poverty and death" ne
Enew no'hnT hd III AZURE 10 Ssnib aIn hs
come TO death These poets had felt the hope
that had swept over humanity ..,...
There was one wonderful TACT about spirit
ualsm. without reference to its truth or falsity.
that was. it did not ask your blind belief. It
OF Andover, son Of that Dr. Phelps in whose
tari"ps We're rep5rteI held to the BELIEF to he
end of his LIE that they had a spiritual origin.
although with his orthodoxy Prof. Phelps could
accept no theory OF their spiritual origin but
1T has always seemed to me q little pecu-
liar" said DR.. Savage. referring to the attitude
OF the ordinary church toward the spiritualis:
tic, movement. that ordinary ministers will
tell you you are very wicked person II You say
the same time tell you that you are very
wicked person if you try to find out anything
1--WE had. what purported to be. hundreds Of
messages from the other side" Or. Savage
@ d Ds ha% % ese
ualism has done i; has liberalized. There has
never, been a religion on the face Of the earth
penlngs that Spirtualists. claim are taking
place to-day, ChristianitY. Judaism. Bran
maplsm. ali had then beginnings in visions
Of the unsson, In this respect the Roman
thnrch had an aayanHgg az; oyer the other
were going on all the time; The supsrhuman
manifestations were not OF the past age. but of
all ages, according to that church.
1T Is the enormous advantage of Spiritual
ism" DR.. Savage said. that it says that these
things are bs me r.9nf5 TO
mot OF the o,hers. there isn't single first;
hand .witne.s. The only first hand witness ot
ha saw Jesus in nerson; but in vision on the
road 70 Damascus. | have never called my, my,
being coward and time server Cor not
doing it. | believe that at the heart OF Spirit
uaism there , "a. treat tHu,G bnt hFTe Ave
cause there are SO many things connected with
SprituaIism: in which dc. not believe and
been willing to wear the name. It is not
cowardice. / think that haye proved at least
in ne last thF'F by ears mat am not AFRAID TO
Some persons had told him that thcy be-
lieyed in Spirtualism; but were afraid TO avow
it because they disiked to be called fools.
You will never get at the number OF Sriritua-
lists by the census he said: i venture 20 say
isand n and throw a stone without there being
within a short radius OF where i falls one or
more families studying S Ssplaltuais%m; r al % put WHO
might say. The worst enemy of.Spirtuaiiam
is the dishone,t practitioner and those who
Those we're the meanest beings on earth:
the doctor said. who took money wrunG of
hear from their dead, These were some OF
the things that stood in the way OF Spiritual
"The other dav, the papers contained long
account OF the belief Of DR. LYMAN Ahhott and
OF Dir. Hills who is his successor: Both be-
lieve, only both were Very careful to guard
themselves AGAINST believing in such vulgar
and foolish things as raprnGs on table. For
the life of me | cannot see what there Is so
in one room Of a hotel and am in another I
without rappiIg to find out whether you want
y see me. If some one from the other world
| is near me and wants 20 seq me-. is il SO dread
| ful that he should call my attention by rap
ping ! halo been asked as to the nature Of
| cOmmunlCatln ms from tnc Otner SIDE. I've
hal what purported to be hundreds of them
| and say that they are pretty much on level
with my daily mail. get some foolish and
| some malicious communications. and again
| some noble and intellig ones. In my mail
every morning. So il II with those from the
| other side. If we can get rid Of the old idea
| that the moment a man dies he II either u
| devil or an ANGEL We will see that this is lust
| a, IL would be likely to te-the communca-
| tons being on a level with things as they are
| now II should die now here in this pulpit
should not expect II lie IN the next momen ut
| more fooshOr more wise than ] am now"
| lie knew something o! arithmetic. hut he
did not see why it should be supposed that he
should as spirit propose Ii problem in arith-
metc or be prepared to. give special advice
| on the subject. Fools die every minute, it is
| said, and don't doubt thcy are as big fools
| h!e minutes aiterward,", he said. And why
| advice in arithmetic: II | wanted advice on
| Wall street ! had rather hear ono word from
| Perpont Morgan thanthe advice OF Il thousand
| spirits though ] knew they we're spirits"
| He did not know why he should be supposed
| TO know II thousand things merely because he
| was dead
| "Dont trust the popular newspapers on
| these things" he said. referring to the claims
OF spirtualism; lust try q little inquiry on
| your own account. The World. on the even
| ing OF March -, had one Of the most InsIn nat