St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-03-31
RELIGION OF GHOSTS.
Dr. Talmage Warns People Against
Modern Spiritualism.
The Witch Of En- ioF = Type Of the
Fallacies of tie Present Day
Denounces II m Witcacraft
and SoPcery.

.and sorcery.
Copyright. 1sco. by Louis Klcpsch.l
Washington. Feb. g.
In this discourse DIR. Talmagc dis
cusses a. theme never more under ex
ploration than at this time and warns
people against what he calls a religion
of ghosts; text, Samuel 2s:7: BE
hold, there is n 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 witt
him. and they came to the woman b,
night"
Trouble to the right of him ant
trouble to the left of him, Saul knew
not what to do. As last resort h,
concluded to seek out spiritual medi
um or witch or anything that 70,
please to call ner-a woman who hat
communication with the spirits of tn.
eternal world. It was a very difficult
thing to do, for Saul had either slair
all the witches or. compelled them t.
stop business. A servant one day sait
to King Saul: II know of spiritua
medium down ut the village of Endor.
do you?" said the king. Night falls
Saul. putting off his kingly robes and
putting ON the dress of plain citizey.
with two servants, goes out to hunt uI
this medium.
Saul and his servants after awhile
reached the village. and they say: 81
wonder Il this is the house" and they
look in, and they see.thc hnggard, 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 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 trembles and al
most drops the light. for she knows
there is no chance for a fortune teller
or spiritual medium in all the land.
But Saul having sworn that no harm
shall come to her, she says: swell.
who shalt I bring up from the dead ?''
Saul says: Bring up Samuel" That
was the prophet who had died a little
while before.
I see her waving wand, or stirring
up some poisonous herbs in q caltlron.
or hear her muttering over some incan-
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
ashen 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
II 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. lam
going now. Come, come with mel"
And, 10, 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 MS. mystery. There is a 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 so
many things that cannot be accounted
for. 10 many sounds and appearances
which defy acoustics and investigation,
70 many things approximating to the
spectral. SO many effects which do not
seem to have sufficient cause.
To .unlatch the,.d door between the
present state and the future state all
the fingers Of superstition have been
busy. We have books entitled Foot
falls on the Boundaries of Other
Worlds" THE Debatable Land Be
tween This World and the Next" "Re-
searches Into the Phenomena of Spirit
ualism" and whole libraries of hocus
pocus, enough to deceive the very elect.
I shall not take time to rehearse the
history of divination, Delphic oracle.
sibyl or palmistry or the whole CEN
turies Of imposture.
Modern spiritualism proposes to
open the door between this world and
the next and put us into communica-
ton with the dead. 1t has never yet
offered one reasonable credential.
When. / find Saul in my text con-
sulting familiar spirit, learn that
spiritualism is u very old religion.
Spiritualism in America was born in
The year 1s47, in Hydesville, Wayne
N. Y, when one night there
was loud rap heard against the door
Of Michael Weekman; a rap a second
time. rap a. third time, and all three
times, when the door was opened,
there was nothing found there, the
knocking having been made seeming
" by invisible knuckles. In that same
house there was young woman who
had q cold hand passed over her face,
and, there being seemingly NO arm at
Eached to It, ghostly suspicious were
excited.
After awhile Mr.. Fox with his family
moved into that house. and then they
had bang1ngs at the door every night. |
One night Mr.. Fox cried out: Are you
) spirit?" Two raps-answer in the
Affirmative. "Are you IN injured
ypirit7" Two raps-anzsser in the af-
lrmative. Then they knew right away
hat 1t was the spirit o. :, peddler who
had been murdered in that house years |
before and who had been robbed of his
800. Whether the spirit of the peddler |