The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1900-03-03

'ONF LIS
One night Mr.. Eek cried ,rt: "A re YOU
d spirit?" Two raps-answer in the
affirmative. care you an injured
spirit?' Two raps--answer in the af-
firmatiye. Then they knew right away
that it was the spirit of a pcddler who
had BEEN murdered in that house years
before and who had been robbed of his
$500. Whether the spirit ofthe peddier
came back to collect his $500 or his
bones | do not know.
The excitement spread. There was
q universal rumpus. Hon. Judge Ed
monds declared in a book that he had
actually seen a bell start from the
top shelf of a Closet, heard it ring over
the people that were standing in the
closet; then, swung by invisible hands,
it rang over the people in the back par
lor and fcated through the folding
doors to the front parlor, rang over
the people there and then dropped on
the floor. A senator of the United
States. afterward governor of Wiscon-
sin, had his head quite turned with
spiritualistic demonstrations. The ia
bles tipped, and the stools tilted, and
the bedsteads raised, and the chairs
upset, and it seemed as If the spirits
everywhere had gone into the furni-
ture b%usinessl Well, the people said:
I'VE have got something new in this
country. 1t is u new religion!" Oh,
no, my friend, thousands of years ago,
we find in our text, a spiritualistic
seance!
Nothing in the s~piritualistic 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 nccromancers, those who consult
with the spirits of the departed;
charmers, those who put their subjects
in a mesmeric state; ~sorcerers, 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, the Brahmars went through all
the table moving, all the furniture eX-
element, which the spirits Lave ex-
plotted in u 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
decisions I have mentioned belong to
the same family. They are exhuma-
+ionc from tho nncoap p,Dr1I
What does God think of all these de-
lusions? He thinks so severely of them
that He never speaks of them but with
livid thunders of indignation. He says:
Il will be a swift witness against the
sorcercr." He says: "Thou shalt not
suffer q witch to live" And, lest you
might make some important distinc-
ton between spiritualism and witch
craft, God says, in so many words:
There shall not be among you a con-
sultcr of familiar spirits. or wizard, or
r~ccronlancer, for they that do these
things are an determination unto the
Lord" The Lord God Almighty in a
score of passages which / l have not now
time to quote utters His Indignation
against all this great family of dclu-
sions. After that be a spiritualist if
YOU dare!
Still further, we learn from this text
how it is that people come to fall into
o~piritualism. Saul had enough trouble
to kill ten men. He did not know where
TO so for relief. After awhile he re-
solved to GO and sec the witch of En-
dor. He expected hat somehow she
would afford him relief. 1t was his
trouble drove him there. And / have
to tell you now that spirituaiism finds
its victims in the troubled, the bank
Tupt, the sick, the bercft. You lose
your watch, and you go to thc 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 n
highly wrought, nervous and diseased
state of mind you go and put yourself
in that communication. That is why
l hate spiritualism. 1t takes advan.
tagc of one in a moment of weakness,
which may come upon us ct any time.
We lose u friend. The trial is keen,
sharp, ~suffccating, almost I1addening.
If we could marshal q host and storm
the eternal world and ~recapture our
loved one, the host would soon be mar
shaded. The house is so lonely. The
world is so dark. The separation is so
insuifcrablc. But spiritual1sm says:
I'VE will open the future world, and
your loved N can come back and talk
to YOU" Though we may not hear his
voice, we may hear the rap CT his hand.
So, clear the table. Sit down. Put
your hands on the table. Be 7ery 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
utcs. The table sLircrs. 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.