Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-03-01

domain and scight of hand and optical
delusion account for nearly everything.
Deception being the main staple of spir-
itualism, no wonder il chooses the dark
ness!
You have all seen strange and unac-
countablc things in the night Almost
every man has Mt some time had a touch
OF hallucination Some tire ago, after
l Ind been overtempted to eat some
thing indigestible before retiring at night
after retiring | saw the president Of one
of the prominent colleges astride the foot
of the bed, while he demanded of me a
lonn OF 8 cents When awakened, | had
no idea it was anything supernatural.
And | have to advise you, If you hear
and see strange things at night, to stop
eating hot mince pie, and take dose of
bilious medicine. 1t is an outraged phys
ical organism. enough to deceive the very
elect after shutdown and does nearly all
its work in the night. The witch of En-
dor held her scanccs Mt night; so do they
all. Away with this religion OF spooks!
Death to Its Disciples.
Still further, learn from my text that
spiritualism is doom and death to its dis
ciplcs. King Saul thought that he would
get help from the medium" but the first
that he sees makes him swoon away, and
no sooner is he resuscitatcd than he is
told he must die. Spirituaism is doom
and death to every one that yields to it.
II ruins the body. Look in upon an au-
dicnce of piritualsts--cadavcro weak.
nervous, exhausted, hands clammy and
cold. voices sepulchral and ominous, be-
wildcred with raps. | never knew n con-
firm,d spirtualist who had n healthy
nervous system. 1t is incipient epilepsy
and catalcpsy. Destroy your nervous
system, and you might as well be dead.
| have noticed that people who are hear
ing raps from the future world have but
little strength left to bear the hard raps
of this world. a man can live with only
one lung or with no eyes and be happy,
as men have been under such Affections,
but woe he to the man whose nerves nre
shattered! Spiritualism snites first Of
ALL and nightly against the nervous
system and so makes life miserable.
indct spiritualism also because it is a
social and marital curse. The worst deeds
OF Righteousness and the worst orgies of
unclcanliness have been enacted under its
patronage. The story is too vile for me
to tell will not pollute my tongue or
your ears with the recital. Sometimes the
civil law has been invoked to stop the out
rage. Families innumerabe have been
broken up by it. 1t has pushed off hun
dreds of young women into life Of
protligacy. 1t talks about elective affini-
ties" and "affinitnl relations" and 'spir-
itual matches" and adopts the whole vo-
cabulary OF free lovcism. In one OF its
journals ii declares marriage is the mon
ster curse OF civilization" at is n source
of debauchery and intemperance." IL
spiritualsm could have its full swing, it
would turn this world into pandemoni-
UNI of carnality. 1t is an unclean. adul-
ferrous, damnabe religion, and the sooner
it drops into the hell from which ii rose
the better both for earth and heaven. For
the sake of mans honor and womans
purity | say let the last vestigc of it per-
ish forever. | wish | could gather up all
the raps it has ever heard from spirits
bcst or damned and gather them all on
its own head in laundering raps OF ami
hilation
| further indict spritualism for that it
is n cause of insanity. There j. not an
asylum between Bangor and San Fran
cisco which has not the torn and bleed
ing victims Of this delusion. Go into any
asylum, ! care not where it is. and the
presiding doctor, after you have asked
MANI" will shy, "Spiritualism demenled
him." or, What is the matter with that
woman" he will say, "Spiritualism de-
mented her" 1t has taken down some OF
the brightest intcllects. 1t swept off into
mental midnight judges. senator's. gov
errors, ministers of the gospel and one
time came near capturing one Of the
presidents OF the United States. At
Flushing, \. Y, n man became absorbed
with it, forsook his family. took his only
$4,000, surrendered them to spiritual
medium in New York attempted three
times to put an end to his own life and
then was ir.arcerated in the state luna
tic asylum. Many years ago the steamer
Atlantic started from Europe for the
United States. Getting midocean, the
machinery broke, and she houndered
around day after day and week after
week, and for r whole month after she
was due people wondered and finally
gave her up. There was great anguish
in the cities, for there were many who
had friends aboard that vessel Some Of
the women in their distress went to the
spiritual medium and inquired as to the
fate of that vessel. The medium called
up the spirits, and the rappings on the
table indicated the steamship lost. with
all or board. Women went raving mad
and were carried to the lunatc asylum.
After awhile one day n gun was heard off
quarantine. The flags went up on the
shipping, and the bells of the churches
were rung. The boys ran through the
streets crying: Extra. The Atlantic is
SAFE" There was the embracing as from
the dead when friends came again to
friends, but some Of those passengers