St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-03-31

the people that were standing in the
closet; then, swung by invisible hands
it rang over the people in the back par.
ior and fioated through the folding
doors to The front parlor. rang ovel
the people there and then dropped or
the floor. A senator of the United
States, afterward governor of Wiscon.
sin, had lis head quite turned with
spiritualistic demonstrations. The ia
bles tipped, and the stools tilted, and
the betlsteads raised, and the chairs
upset, and it seemed as if the spirits
everywhere had gone into the furni-
ture business! We'll. the people said:
I'VE have got something new in this
country. 1t is a new religion!" Oh
no, my friend, thousands of years ago
we find in our text, q spiritualistic
seance.
Nothing in the spiritualistic circles
Of our day has been more strange
mysterious and wonderful than things
which have been seen in past centuries
of the world. In all ages there have
been nccromanccrs, those who consult
with the spirits of the departed;
charmcrs, those who put their subjects
in a mesmeric state; sorccrers, those
who by taking poisonous drugs see
everything and hear everything and
tell everything; dreamers, people who
in their sleeping moments can see the
future world and hold consultation
with spirits. Yes, before the time OF
Christ, he Brahmans went through all
the ta1!e moving. all the furniture ex-
citemen.., which the spirits have ex-
plotted IN our day, precisely the same
thing over and over again, under the
manipulation of the Brahmans. Now.
do you say that spiritualism is differ
| cnt from these? / answer, all these
delusioEs have mentioned belong to
the same family. They are exhuma-
tions from the unseen world.
What does God think of all these de
lusions? He thinks SO severely of them
that He never speaks of them but with
ivid thunders of indignation. He says:
81 will be s.rifs witness against the
sorcerer." He says: "1hou shalt not
suffer witch to live" And, lest you
might make some important distinc-
ton between spiritualism and witch
craft, God says, in 80 many words:
There shall not be among you q con-
sulter of familiar spirits, or wizard, or
aecromancer, for they that do these
things are an abomination unto the
Lord" The Lord God Almighty in a
score Of passages which have not now
time to quote utters His indignation
against all this great family of delu-
sions. After that be q spiritualist it
sou dare!
Still further, we learn from this text
how it is that people come to fall into
spiritualism. Saul had enough trouble
to kill ten men. He did not know where
to 20 for relief. After awhile he re-
solved to 60 and see the witch Of En-
dor. He expected that somehow she
would, afford him relief. 1t was his
trouble drove him there. And have
10 tell you now that spiritualism finds
its victims in the troubled, the bank
Iupt, the sick. the bereft. You lose
your watch. and you go to the fortune
teller to find where it is.
You lose a friend; you want the spir-
itual world opened, SO that you may
have communication with him. In a
highly wrought, nervous and diseased
state of mind you so and put yourself
I'm that communication. That is why
hate spiritualism. It takes advan-
tage of one in moment of weakness,
which may come upon us at any time.
We lose friend. The trial is keen,
sharp, sunocating, almost maddening.
II we could marshal host and storm
the eternal world and recapture our
loved one, the host would soon be mar
xhaled. The hous. is 50 lonely. The
world is SO dark. The separation is so.
insufferable. But spiritualism says:
ave will open the future world, and
,your loved one can come back and talk
to you." Though we may not hear his
voice, we may hear the rap Of his hand.
So. clear the table. Sit down. Put
your hands ON the table. Be very quiet.
Five minutes gone. Ten minutes. No
motion of the table No response from
the future world. Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes. Nervous excitement
all the time increasing. Forty min
ntes. The table shivers. Two raps
from the future world. The letters of
the alphabet are called over. The de-
parted friends name is John. At the
pronunciation of the letter j, two raps.
At the pronunciation of the letter O.
two raps. At the pronunciation of the
letter H, two raps. At the pronuncia-
tion of the letter N, two raps. There
you have the whole name spelled out
John, John. Now, the spirit being
present, You say: "John, are you hap
py?" Two raps give an affirmative an
swer.
Pretty soon the hand of the medium
begins to twiteh and toss and begins
to write out, after paper and ink are
furnished, message from the eternal
world. What is remarkable, the de-
parted spirit, although it has been
amid the illuminations of the Heaven,
cannot spell as well as it used to. 1t
has lost all grammatical accuracy, and
cannot write rs distinctly. received
q letter through q medium once.
sent it back. said: "Just please to
tell those ghosts they had better 60 to
school and get improved in their cr-
biography" Now, just think of spirits,
that the Bible represents rs enthroned
in glory, coming down to crawl under
the table and break crockery and ring
tea bells before supper is ready and rap
The window shutter on q gusty night!
What consolation in such miserable
stuff as compared with the consolation
that our departed friends free from toll
and sin and pain are forever happy, and
that we will j. n them, not in mystic |
rious and half Itterance which makes |
the hair stand ON end and makes cold
chills creep the back, but in . reunion |
most blessed and happy and glorious!
"And none shall murmur or misdoubt
When Gods great sunrise finds Us out"
learn still further from this sub
ject that spiritualism and necromancy |
are affairs Of darkness. Why did not |
Saul go in the day? He was ashamed
fo M Resides that ho kua~ that L