Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1900-04-06
RELIGION OF GHOSTS.
Dr.. Talmage Warns People Against
Modern Spiritualism.
The Witch of EndOr a Type of the
Fallncies of the Present Day
DenOunces II as Witchcraft
and Sorcery.
copyright, 1900, by Louis Klopsch,l

lCopyright lgUO, by Louis Klopsch.l
Washington,
In this discourse DR.. Talmage dis
cusses theme never more under en-
ploration than at this time and warns
people against what he calls n religion
of ghosts; text, | Samuel 2S:7: BE
hold, there is woman that hath ia
miliar spirit at Endor, And Saul dis
guised himself and put on other raj
ment, and he went, and two men with
him, and they came to the woman by
night"
Trouble to the right of him and
trouble to the left of him, Saul knew
not what to do. AS n last resort he
concluded to seek out spiritual medi-
um or a witch or'anything that you
please to call her--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 spiritual
hANNhuii hOhh uI NllN VI
do you?" said the king. Night falls,
Saul, putting off his kingly robes and
putting on the dress of plain citizen,
with two servants, goes out to hunt up
this medium.
Saul and his servants after awhile
reached the village, and they say: 81
wonder if this is the house." and they
lookin, and they see the haggard, weird
and shriveled up spiritual medium sit
ting by the light and on the table
sculptured images and divining 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 pesring out into the
darkness, she says: "Who is here?"
The tail king informs her that he has
come to have his fortune told. When
she hears that she trembles and al
most drops the light, for she knows
| there is no chance for fortune teller
or spiritual medium in all the land
But Saul having sworn that no harm
shall come to her, she says: "Well
who shall bring up from the dead?"
Saul says: Bring up Samuel" That
was the prophet who had died a little
while before.
/ see her waving a wand, or stirring
up some poisonous herbs in a caldron,
or hear her muttering over some mean
tations, or stamping with her foot as
she cries out to the realm of the dead:
Samuel, Samuel" Lo 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 en-
tire body of the dead Samuel-wrapped
in sepulchral robe, appearing to the
astonished group, who stagger back
and hold fast and catch their breath
and shiver with terror.
The dead prophet, white and awful
from the tomb, begins to move his
ashcn lips, and he glares upon King
Saul and cries out: "What did you
bring me up for? What do you mean,
King Saul?" Saul, trying to compose
and control himself, makes this stam-
mering and affrighted utterance as he
says to the dead prophet: "The 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 sepulcher. / am
going now. Come, come with mel"
And, To- the floor again opens, and the
feet of the dead prophet disappear and
the arms and the shoulders and the
forehead! The floor closes. Oh, that
was an awful seance!
We are surrounded by mystery-be-
fore us, behind us, to the right of us, to
the left of us, mystery. There is h vast
realm unexplored that science, have
no doubt will yet map out. He who eX'
plores that realm will do the world
more service than ever did a Columbus
or an Amerigo Vespucci. There are sc
many things that cannot be accounted
for, so many sounds and appearances
which defy acoustics and investigation
so many things approXimating to the
spectral, so many effects which do not
seem to have sufficient cause.
To unlatch the door between the
present state and the future state al
the fingers of superstition have beer
busy. We have books entitled Foot
, falls on the Boundaries of Other
Worlds" "The Debatable Land Be
, tween This World and the Next" IRE
, searches Into the Phenomena of Spirit
ualism' and whole libraries of hocu
; pocus, enough to deceive the very elect
r | shall not take time to rehearse th'
4. history of divination, Delphic oracle
sibyl or palmistry or the whole cen
turies of imposture.
Modern spiritualism proposes t.
, open the door between this world ant
r the next and put us into communca
| ton with the dead. 1t has never ye
offered one reasonable credential.
a When / find Saul in my text con
a sulting familiar spirit, l learn tha
| spiritualism is very old religion.
!, Spiritualism in America was born il
the year 1S47, in Hydesville, Wayn
q county, N. Y, when one night ther
n was a loud rap heard against the doc
= of Michael Weekman; rap a secon
e time, a rap third time, and all thre
= times, when the door was opened
there was nothing found there, tn
T knocking having been made seeming
(. ly by invisible knuckles. In that sam
S house there was young woman VIII
= had cold hand passed over her face
and, there being seemingly no arm a.
tached to it, ghostly suspicious wer
!. excited.
/ After awhile Mr.. Fox with his famil
moved into that house, and then the