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diff --git a/42318-8.txt b/42318-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 25cccc8..0000000 --- a/42318-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6062 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Salem witchcraft, The planchette -mystery, and Modern spiritualism, by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Phrenological Journal - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Salem witchcraft, The planchette mystery, and Modern spiritualism - with Dr. Doddridge's dream - -Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe - Phrenological Journal - -Release Date: March 12, 2013 [EBook #42318] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT *** - - - - -Produced by eagkw, Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - THE - - SALEM WITCHCRAFT, - - The Planchette Mystery, - - AND - - MODERN SPIRITUALISM, - - WITH - - DR. DODDRIDGE'S DREAM. - - - - - HISTORY - OF - SALEM WITCHCRAFT: - - A REVIEW - OF - CHARLES W. UPHAM'S GREAT WORK. - - FROM THE "EDINBURGH REVIEW." - - With Notes, - - BY THE EDITOR OF "THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL." - - NEW YORK: - FOWLER & WELLS CO., PUBLISHERS, - 753 BROADWAY. - 1886. - - - - -BIGOTRY. Obstinate or blind attachment to a particular creed; -unreasonable zeal or warmth in favor of a party, sect, or opinion; -excessive prejudice. The practice or tenet of a bigot. - - -PREJUDICE. An opinion or decision of mind, formed without due -examination of the facts or arguments which are necessary to a just and -impartial determination. A previous bent or inclination of mind for or -against any person or thing. Injury or wrong of any kind; as to act to -the _prejudice_ of another. - - -SUPERSTITION. Excessive exactness or rigor in religious opinions or -practice; excess or extravagance in religion; the doing of things not -required by God, or abstaining from things not forbidden; or the -belief of what is absurd, or belief without evidence. False religion; -false worship. Rite or practice proceeding from excess of scruples in -religion. Excessive nicety; scrupulous exactness. Belief in the direct -agency of superior powers in certain extraordinary or singular events, -or in omens and prognostics.--_Webster._ - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -The object in reprinting this most interesting review is simply to show -the progress made in moral, intellectual, and physical science. The -reader will go back with us to a time--not very remote--when nothing was -known of Phrenology and Psychology; when men and women were persecuted, -and even put to death, through the baldest ignorance and the most -pitiable superstition. If we were to go back still farther, to the Holy -Wars, we should find cities and nations drenched in human blood through -religious bigotry and intolerance. Let us thank God that our lot is -cast in a more fortunate age, when the light of revelation, rightly -interpreted by the aid of SCIENCE, points to the Source of all -knowledge, all truth, all light. - -When we know more of Anatomy, Physiology, Physiognomy, and the Natural -Sciences generally, there will be a spirit of broader liberality, -religious tolerance, and individual freedom. Then all men will hold -themselves accountable to God, rather than to popes, priests, or -parsons. Our progenitors lived in a time that tried men's souls, as -the following lucid review most painfully shows. - - S. R. W. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - The Place 7 - The Salemite of Forty Years Ago 8 - How the Subject was opened 9 - Careful Historiography 10 - The Actors in the Tragedy 12 - Philosophy of the Delusion 12 - Character of the Early Settlement 13 - First Causes 15 - Death of the Patriarch 16 - Growth of Witchcraft 17 - Trouble in the Church 18 - Rev. Mr. Burroughs 19 - Deodat Lawson 20 - Parris--a Malignant 20 - A Protean Devil 21 - State of Physiology 22 - William Penn as a Precedent 22 - Phenomena of Witchcraft 23 - Parris and his Circle 25 - The Inquisitions--Sarah Good 26 - A Child Witch 27 - The Towne Sisters 28 - Depositions of Parris and his Tools 31 - Goody Nurse's Excommunication 35 - Mary Easty 36 - Mrs. Cloyse 38 - The Proctor Family 40 - The Jacobs Family 41 - Giles and Martha Corey 42 - Decline of the Delusion 44 - The Physio-Psychological Causes of the Trouble 45 - The Last of Parris 47 - "One of the Afflicted"--Her Confession 49 - The Transition 50 - The Fetish Theory Then and Now 51 - The Views of Modern Investigators 53 - Importance of the Subject 55 - - -CONTENTS OF THE PLANCHETTE MYSTERY. - - PAGE. - What Planchette is and does (with review of Facts and - Phenomena) 63 - The Press on Planchette (with further details of Phenomena) 67 - Theory First--That the Board is moved by the hands that rest 70 - upon it - Theory Second--"It is Electricity or Magnetism" 71 - Proof that Electricity has nothing to do with it 78 - Theory Third--The Devil Theory 79 - Theory of a Floating Ambient Mentality 81 - "_To Daimonion_"--The Demon 83 - "It is some principle of nature as yet unknown" 85 - Theory of the Agency of Departed Spirits 85 - PLANCHETTE'S OWN THEORY 89 - The Rational Difficulty 92 - The Medium--The Doctrine of Spheres 93 - The Moral and Religious Difficulty 98 - What this Modern Development is, and what is to come of it 102 - Conclusion 105 - How to work Planchette 106 - - -SPIRITUALISM. - - History of Spiritualism 107 - Scriptural Views 110 - Communion of Saints 112 - - -DR. DODDRIDGE'S DREAM. - - Pages 123-125. - - - - -SALEM WITCHCRAFT. - - -THE PLACE. - -The name of the village of Salem is as familiar to Americans as that of -any provincial town in England or France is to Englishmen and Frenchmen; -yet, when uttered in the hearing of Europeans, it carries us back two or -three centuries, and suggests an image, however faint and transient, of -the life of the Pilgrim Fathers, who gave that sacred name to the place -of their chosen habitation. If we were on the spot to-day, we should see -a modern American seaport, with an interest of its own, but by no means -a romantic one. At present Salem is suffering its share of the adversity -which has fallen upon the shipping trade, while it is still mourning the -loss of some of its noblest citizens in the late civil war. No community -in the Republic paid its tribute of patriotic sacrifice more generously; -and there were doubtless occasions when its citizens remembered the -early days of glory, when their fathers helped to chase the retreating -British, on the first shedding of blood in the war of Independence. But -now they have enough to think of under the pressure of the hour. Their -trade is paralyzed under the operation of the tariff; their shipping is -rotting in port, except so much of it as is sold to foreigners; there -is much poverty in low places and dread of further commercial adversity -among the chief citizens, but there is the same vigorous pursuit of -intellectual interests and pleasures, throughout the society of the -place, that there always is wherever any number of New Englanders -have made their homes beside the church, the library, and the school. -Whatever other changes may occur from one age or period to another, -the features of natural scenery are, for the most part, unalterable. -Massachusetts Bay is as it was when the Pilgrims cast their first look -over it: its blue waters--as blue as the seas of Greece--rippling up -upon the sheeted snow of the sands in winter, or beating against rocks -glittering in ice; in autumn the pearly waves flowing in under the -thickets of gaudy foliage; and on summer evening the green surface -surrounding the amethyst islands, where white foam spouts out of the -caves and crevices. On land, there are still the craggy hills, and the -jutting promontories of granite, where the barberry grows as the bramble -does with us, and room is found for the farmstead between the crags, and -for the apple-trees and little slopes of grass, and patches of tillage, -where all else looks barren. The boats are out, or ranged on shore, -according to the weather, just as they were from the beginning, only in -larger numbers; and far away on either hand the coasts and islands, -the rocks and hills and rural dwellings, are as of old, save for the -shrinking of the forest, and the growth of the cities and villages, -whose spires and school-houses are visible here and there. - - -THE SALEMITE OF FORTY YEARS AGO. - -Yet there are changes, marked and memorable, both in Salem and its -neighborhood, since the date of thirty-seven years ago. There was then -an exclusiveness about the place as evident to strangers, and as dear to -natives, as the rivalship between Philadelphia and Baltimore, while far -more interesting and honorable in its character. In Salem society there -was a singular combination of the precision and scrupulousness of -Puritan manners and habits of thought with the pride of a cultivated -and traveled community, boasting acquaintance with people of all known -faiths, and familiarity with all known ways of living and thinking, -while adhering to the customs, and even the prejudices, of their -fathers. While relating theological conversations held with liberal -Buddhists or lax Mohammedans, your host would whip his horse, to get -home at full speed by sunset on a Saturday, that the groom's Sabbath -might not be encroached on for five minutes. The houses were hung with -odd Chinese copies of English engravings, and furnished with a variety -of pretty and useful articles from China, never seen elsewhere, because -none but American traders had then achieved any commerce with that -country but in tea, nankeen, and silk. The Salem Museum was the glory -of the town, and even of the State. Each speculative merchant who went -forth, with or without a cargo (and the trade in ice was then only -beginning), in his own ship, with his wife and her babes, was determined -to bring home some offering to the Museum, if he should accomplish a -membership of that institution by doubling either Cape Horn or the Cape -of Good Hope. He picked up an old cargo somewhere and trafficked with -it for another; and so he went on--if not rounding the world, seeing -no small part of it, and making acquaintance with a dozen eccentric -potentates and barbaric chiefs, and sovereigns with widely celebrated -names; and, whether the adventurer came home rich or poor, he was sure -to have gained much knowledge, and to have become very entertaining -in discourse. The houses of the principal merchants were pleasant -abodes--each standing alone beside the street, which was an avenue -thick-strewn with leaves in autumn and well shaded in summer. Not far -away were the woods, where lumbering went on, for the export of timber -to Charleston and New Orleans, and for the furniture manufacture, which -was the main industry of the less fertile districts of Massachusetts in -those days. Here and there was a little lake--a "pond"--under the shadow -of the woods, yielding water-lilies in summer, and ice for exportation -in winter--as soon as that happy idea had occurred to some fortunate -speculator. On some knoll there was sure to be a school-house. Amid -these and many other pleasant objects, and in the very center of the -stranger's observations, there was one spectacle that had no beauty in -it--just as in the happy course of the life of the Salem community there -is one fearful period. That dreary object is the Witches' Hill at Salem; -and that fearful chapter of history is the tragedy of the Witch -Delusion. - - -HOW THE SUBJECT WAS OPENED. - -Our reason for selecting the date of thirty-seven years ago for our -glance at the Salem of the last generation is, that at that time a -clergyman resident there fixed the attention of the inhabitants on the -history of their forefathers by delivering lectures on Witchcraft. This -gentleman was then a young man, of cultivated mind and intellectual -tastes, a popular preacher, and esteemed and beloved in private life. In -delivering those lectures he had no more idea than his audience that he -was entering upon the great work and grand intellectual interest of -his life. When he concluded the course, he was unconscious of having -offered more than the entertainment of a day; yet the engrossing -occupation of seven-and-thirty years for himself, and no little -employment and interest for others, have grown out of that early effort. -He was requested to print the lectures, and did so. They went through -more than one edition; and every time he reverted to the subject, -with some fresh knowledge gathered from new sources, he perceived -more distinctly how inadequate, and even mistaken, had been his early -conceptions of the character of the transactions which constituted -the Witch Tragedy. At length he refused to reissue the volume. "I was -unwilling," he says in the preface of the book before us, "to issue -again what I had discovered to be an insufficient presentation of the -subject." Meantime, he was penetrating into mines of materials for -history, furnished by the peculiar forms of administration instituted by -the early rulers of the province. It was an ordinance of the General -Court of Massachusetts, for instance, that testimony should in all cases -be taken in the shape of depositions, to be preserved "in perpetual -remembrance." In all trials, the evidence of witnesses was taken in -writing beforehand, the witnesses being present (except in certain -cases) to meet any examination in regard to their recorded testimony. -These depositions were carefully preserved, in complete order: and -thus we may now know as much about the landed property, the wills, the -contracts, the assaults and defamation, the thievery and cheating, and -even the personal morals and social demeanor of the citizens of Salem -of two centuries and a half ago as we could have done if they had -had law-reporters in their courts, and had filed those reports, and -preserved the police departments of newspapers like those of the present -day. The documents relating to the witchcraft proceedings have been -for the most part laid up among the State archives; but a considerable -number of them have been dispersed--no doubt from their connection with -family history, and under impulses of shame and remorse. Of these, some -are safely lodged in literary institutions, and others are in private -hands, though too many have been lost. - - -CAREFUL HISTORIOGRAPHY. - -In a long course of years, Mr. Upham, and after him his sons, have -searched out all documents they could hear of. When they had reason to -believe that any transcription of papers was inaccurate--that gaps had -been conjecturally filled up, that dates had been mistaken, or that -papers had been transposed, they never rested till they had got hold of -the originals, thinking the bad spelling, the rude grammar, and strange -dialect of the least cultivated country people less objectionable than -the unauthorized amendments of transcribers. Mr. Upham says he has -resorted to the originals throughout. Then there were the parish books -and church records, to which was committed in early days very much -in the life of individuals which would now be considered a matter of -private concern, and scarcely fit for comment by next-door neighbors. -The primitive local maps and the coast-survey chart, with the markings -of original grants to settlers, and of bridges, mills, meeting-houses, -private dwellings, forest roads, and farm boundaries, have been -preserved. Between these and deeds of conveyance it has been possible to -construct a map of the district, which not only restores the external -scene to the mind's eye, but casts a strong and fearful light--as we -shall see presently--on the origin and course of the troubles of 1692. -Mr. Upham and his sons have minutely examined the territory--tracing the -old stone walls and the streams, fixing the gates, measuring distances, -even verifying points of view, till the surrounding scenery has become -as complete as could be desired. Between the church books and the parish -and court records, the character, repute, ways, and manners of every -conspicuous resident can be ascertained; and it may be said that nothing -out of the common way happened to any man, woman, or child within the -district which could remain unknown at this day, if any one wished to -make it out. Mr. Upham has wished to make out the real story of the -Witch Tragedy; and he has done it in such a way that his readers will -doubtless agree that no more accurate piece of history has ever been -written than the annals of this New England township. - -For such a work, however, something more is required than the most -minute delineation of the outward conditions of men and society; and in -this higher department of his task Mr. Upham is above all anxious to -obtain and dispense true light. The second part of his work treats of -what may be called the spiritual scenery of the time. He exhibits the -superstition of that age, when the belief in Satanic agency was the -governing idea of religious life, and the most engrossing and pervading -interest known to the Puritans of every country. Of the young and -ignorant in the new settlement beyond the seas his researches have led -him to write thus: - - -THE ACTORS IN THE TRAGEDY. - -"However strange it seems, it is quite worthy of observation, that the -actors in that tragedy, the 'afflicted children,' and other witnesses, -in their various statements and operations, embraced about the whole -circle of popular superstition. How those young country girls, some of -them mere children, most of them wholly illiterate, could have become -familiar with such fancies, to such an extent, is truly surprising. They -acted out, and brought to bear with tremendous effect, almost all that -can be found in the literature of that day, and the period preceding it, -relating to such subjects. Images and visions which had been portrayed -in tales of romance, and given interest to the pages of poetry, will -be made by them, as we shall see, to throng the woods, flit through -the air, and hover over the heads of a terrified court. The ghosts of -murdered wives and children will play their parts with a vividness -of representation and artistic skill of expression that have hardly -been surpassed in scenic representations on the stage. In the -Salem-witchcraft proceedings, the superstition of the middle ages -was embodied in real action. All its extravagant absurdities and -monstrosities appear in their application to human experience. We see -what the effect has been, and must be, when the affairs of life, in -courts of law and the relations of society, or the conduct or feelings -of individuals, are suffered to be under the control of fanciful or -mystical notions. When a whole people abandons the solid ground of -common sense, overleaps the boundaries of human knowledge, gives itself -up to wild reveries, and lets loose its passions without restraint, -it presents a spectacle more terrific to behold, and becomes more -destructive and disastrous, than any convulsion of mere material -nature,--than tornado, conflagration, or earthquake." (Vol. i. p. 468.) - - -PHILOSOPHY OF THE DELUSION. - -All this is no more than might have occurred to a thoughtful historian -long years ago; but there is yet something else which it has been -reserved for our generation to perceive, or at least to declare, without -fear or hesitation. Mr. Upham may mean more than some people would in -what he says of the new opening made by science into the dark depths -of mystery covered by the term Witchcraft; for he is not only the -brother-in-law but the intimate friend and associate of Dr. Oliver -Wendell Holmes, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Harvard -University, and still better known to us, as he is at home, as the -writer of the physiological tales, "Elsie Venner" and the "Guardian -Angel," which have impressed the public as something new in the -literature of fiction. It can not be supposed that Mr. Upham's view of -the Salem Delusion would have been precisely what we find it here if -he and Dr. Holmes had never met; and, but for the presence of the -Professor's mind throughout the book, which is most fitly dedicated to -him, its readers might have perceived less clearly the true direction in -which to look for a solution of the mystery of the story, and its writer -might have written something less significant in the place of the -following paragraph: - -"As showing how far the beliefs of the understanding, the perceptions of -the senses, and the delusions of the imagination may be confounded, the -subject belongs not only to theology and moral and political science, -but to _physiology_, in its original and proper use, as embracing our -whole nature; and the facts presented may help to conclusions relating -to what is justly regarded as the great mystery of our being--the -connection between the body and the mind." (Vol. i. p. viii.) - - -CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SETTLEMENT. - -The settlement had its birth in 1620, the date of the charter granted -by James I. to "the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New -England." The first policy of the company was to attract families of -good birth, position, education, and fortune, to take up considerable -portions of land, introduce the best agriculture known, and facilitate -the settling of the country. Hence the tone of manners, the social -organization, and the prevalence of the military spirit, which the -subsequent decline in the spirit of the community made it difficult for -careless thinkers to understand. Not only did the wealth of this class -of early settlers supply the district with roads and bridges, and clear -the forest; it set up the pursuit of agriculture in the highest place, -and encouraged intellectual pursuits, refined intercourse, and a loftier -spirit of colonizing enterprise than can be looked for among immigrants -whose energies are engrossed by the needs of the day. The mode of dress -of the gentry of this class shows us something of their aspect in their -new country, when prowling Indians were infesting the woods a stone's -throw from their fences, and when the rulers of the community took it -in turn with all their neighbors to act as scouts against the savages. -George Corwin was thus dressed: - -"A wrought flowing neckcloth, a sash covered with lace, a coat with -short cuffs and reaching halfway between the wrist and elbow; the skirts -in plaits below; an octagon ring and cane. The last two articles are -still preserved. His inventory mentions 'a silver-laced cloth coat, a -velvet ditto, a satin waistcoat embroidered with gold, a trooping scarf -and silver hat-band, golden-topped and embroidered, and a silver-headed -cane.'" (Vol. i. p. 98.) - -This aristocratic element was in large proportion to the total number -of settlers. It lifted up the next class to a position inferior only -to its own by its connection with land. The farmers formed an order by -themselves--not by having peculiar institutions, but through the dignity -ascribed to agriculture. The yeomanry of Massachusetts hold their heads -high to this day, and their fathers spoke proudly of themselves as "the -farmers." They penetrated the forest in all directions, sat down beside -the streams, and plowed up such level tracts as they found open to -the sunshine; so that in a few years "the Salem Farms" constituted a -well-defined territory, thinly peopled, but entirely appropriated. In -due course parishes were formed round the outskirts of "Salem Farms," -encroaching more or less in all directions, and reducing the area to -that which was ultimately known as "Salem Village," in which some few -of the original grants of five hundred acres or less remained complete, -while others were divided among families or sold. Long before the date -of the Salem Tragedy, the strifes which follow upon the acquisition of -land had become common, and there was much ill-blood within the bounds -of the City of Peace. The independence, the mode of life, and the pride -of the yeomen made them excellent citizens, however, when war broke out -with the Indians or with any other foe; and the military spirit of the -aristocracy was well sustained by that of the farmers. - -The dignity of the town had been early secured by the wisdom of the -Company at home, which had committed to the people the government of the -district in which they were placed; and every citizen felt himself, in -his degree, concerned in the rule and good order of the society in which -he lived; but the holders of land recognized no real equality between -themselves and men of other callings, while the artisans and laborers -were ambitious to obtain a place in the higher class. Artisans of every -calling needed in a new society had been sent out from England by the -Company; and when all the most energetic had acquired as much land as -could be had in recompense for special services to the community--as so -many acres for plowing up a meadow, so many for discovering minerals, so -many for foiling an Indian raid,--and when the original grants had been -broken up, and finally parceled out among sons and daughters, leaving -no scope for new purchasers, the most ambitious of the adventurers -applied for tracts in Maine, where they might play their part of First -Families in a new settlement. The weaker, the more envious, the more -ill-conditioned thus remained behind, to cavil at their prosperous -neighbors, and spite them if they could. Here was an evident preparation -for social disturbance, when opportunity for gratifying bad passions -should arise. - - -FIRST CAUSES. - -There had been a preparation for this stage in the temper with which the -adventurers had arrived in the country, and the influences which at once -operated upon them there. The politics and the religion in which they -had grown up were gloomy and severe. Those who were not soured were sad; -and, it should be remembered, they fully believed that Satan and his -powers were abroad, and must be contended with daily and hourly, and in -every transaction of life. In their new home they found little cheer -from the sun and the common daylight; for the forest shrouded the entire -land beyond the barren seashore. The special enemy, the Red Indian, -always watching them and seeking his advantage of them, was not, in -their view, a simple savage. Their clergy assured them that the Red -Indians were worshipers and agents of Satan; and it is difficult to -estimate the effect of this belief on the minds and tempers of those -who were thinking of the Indians at every turn of daily life. The -passion which is in the far West still spoken of as special, under the -name of "Indian-hating," is a mingled ferocity and fanaticism quite -inconceivable by quiet Christians, or perhaps by any but border -adventurers; and this passion, kindled by the first demonstration of -hostility on the part of the Massachusetts Red Man, grew and spread -incessantly under the painful early experiences of colonial life. Every -man had in turn to be scout, by day and night, in the swamp and in the -forest; and every woman had to be on the watch in her husband's absence -to save her babes from murderers and kidnappers. Whatever else they -might want to be doing, even to supply their commonest needs, the -citizens had first to station themselves within hail of each other all -day, and at night to drive in their cattle among the dwellings, and keep -watch by turns. Even on Sundays patrols were appointed to look to the -public safety while the community were at church. The mothers carried -their babes to the meeting-house, rather than venture to stay at home in -the absence of husband and neighbors. One function of the Sabbath patrol -indicates to us other sources of trouble. While looking for Indians, -the patrol was to observe who was absent from worship, to mark what the -absentees were doing, and to give information to the authorities. These -patrols were chosen from the leading men of the community--the most -active, vigilant, and sensible--and it is conceivable that much -ill-will might have been accumulated in the hearts of not only the -ne'er-do-weels, but timid and jealous and angry persons who were uneasy -under this Sabbath inspection. Such ill-will had its day of triumph when -the Salem Tragedy arrived at its catastrophe. - - -DEATH OF THE PATRIARCH. - -The ordinary experience of life was singularly accelerated in that new -state of society, though in the one particular of the age attained by -the primitive adventurers, the community may be regarded as favored. -Death made a great sweep of the patriarchs at last--shortly before -the Tragedy--but an unusual proportion of elders presided over social -affairs for seventy years after the date of the second charter. The -chief seats in the meeting-house were filled by gray-haired men and -women, rich or poor as might happen; and they were allowed to retain -their places, whoever else might be shifted in the yearly "seating." -The title "Landlord" distinguished the most dignified, and the eldest -of each family of the "Old Planters;" a "Goodman" and "Goodwife" -(abbreviated to "Goody") were titles of honor, as signifying heads -of households. The old age of these venerable persons was carefully -cherished; and when, as could not but happen, many of them departed -near together, the mourning of the community was deep and bitter. -Society seemed to be deprived of its parents, and in fear and grief -it anticipated the impending calamity. Except in regard to these -patriarchs, and their long old age, the pace of events was very rapid. -Early marriages might be looked for in a society so youthful; but the -rapid succession of second and subsequent marriages is a striking -feature in the register. The most devoted affection seems to have had -no effect in deferring a second marriage so long as a year. No time -was lost in settling in life at first; families were large; and -half-brothers and sisters abounded; and as they grew up they married on -the portions which were given them, as a matter of course,--each having -house, land, and plenishing, until at last the parents gave away all but -a sufficiency for their own need or convenience, and went into the town -or remained in the central mansion, turning over the land and its cares -to the younger generation. When there was a failure of offspring, the -practice of adoption seems to have been resorted to almost as a natural -process, which, in such a state of society, it probably was. - - -GROWTH. - -In the early days of the arts of life it is usual for the separate -transactions of each day to be slow and cumbrous; but the experience of -life may be rapid nevertheless. While traveling was a rough jog-trot, -and forest-land took years to clear, and the harvest weeks to gather, -property grew fast, marriages were precipitate and repeated, one -generation trod on the heels of another, and the old folks complained -that The Enemy made rapid conquest of the new territory which they -had hoped he could not enter. When any work--of house-building, or -harvesting, or nutting, or furnishing, or raising the wood-pile--had to -be done, it was secured by assembling all the hands in the neighborhood, -and turning the toil into a festive pleasure. We have all read of such -"bees" in the rural districts of America down to the present day; and we -can easily understand how the "goodmen" and "goodies" watched for the -good and the evil which came out of such celebrations--the courtship and -marriage, and the neighborly interest and good offices on the one -hand, and the evil passions from disappointed hopes, envy, jealousy, -tittle-tattle, rash judgment, and slander on the other. Much that was -said, done, and inferred in such meetings as these found its way long -afterward into the Tragedy at Salem. Mr. Upham depicts the inner side of -the young social life of which the inquisitorial meeting-house and the -courts were the black shadow: - -"The people of the early colonial settlements had a private and interior -life, as much as we have now, and the people of all ages and countries -have had. It is common to regard them in no other light than as a -severe, somber, and pleasure-abhorring generation. It was not so with -them altogether. They had the same nature that we have. It was not all -gloom and severity. They had their recreations, amusements, gayeties, -and frolics. Youth was as buoyant with hope and gladness, love as warm -and tender, mirth as natural to innocence, wit as sprightly, then as -now. There was as much poetry and romance; the merry laugh enlivened -the newly opened fields, and rang through the bordering woods as loud, -jocund, and unrestrained as in these older and more crowded settlements. -It is true that their theology was austere, and their policy, in Church -and State, stern; but, in their modes of life, there were some features -which gave peculiar opportunity to exercise and gratify a love of social -excitement of a pleasurable kind." (Vol. i. p. 200.) - -Except such conflicts as arose about the boundaries of estates when the -General Court was remiss in making and enforcing its decisions, the -first and greatest strifes related to Church matters and theological -doctrines. The farmers had more lively minds, better informed as to law, -and more exercised in reasoning and judging than their class are usually -supposed to have; for there never was a time when lawsuits were not -going forward about the area and the rights of some landed property -or other; and intelligent men were called on to follow the course of -litigation, if not to serve the community in office. Thus they were -prepared for the strife when the operation of the two Churches pressed -for settlement. - - -TROUBLE IN THE CHURCH. - -The farmers in the rural district thenceforward to be called "Salem -Village," desired to have a meeting-house and a minister of their own; -but the town authorities insisted on taxing them for the religious -establishment in Salem, from which they derived no benefit. In 1670, -twenty of them petitioned to be set off as a parish, and allowed to -provide a minister for themselves. In two years more the petition -was granted, as a compromise for larger privileges; but there were -restrictions which spoiled the grace of such concession as there was. -One of these restrictions was that no minister was to be permanently -settled without the permission of the old Church to proceed to his -ordination. Endless trouble arose out of this provision. The men who -had contributed the land, labor, and material for the meeting-house, -and the maintenance for the pastor, naturally desired to be free in -their choice of their minister, while the Church authorities in Salem -considered themselves responsible for the maintenance of true doctrine, -and for leaving no opening for Satan to enter the fold in the form of -heresy, or any kind or degree of dissent. Their fathers, the first -settlers, had made the colony too hot for one of their most virtuous -and distinguished citizens, because he had views of his own on Infant -Baptism; they had brought him to judgment, magistrate and church member -as he was, for not having presented his infant child at the font; he had -sold his estates and gone away. If such a citizen as Townsend Bishop -was thus lost to their society, how could the guardians of religion -surrender their control over any church or pastor within their reach? -They had spiritual charge of a community which had made its abode on the -American shore for the single purpose of living its own religious life -in its own way; and no dissent or modification from within could be -permitted, any more than intrusion or molestation from without. Between -the ecclesiastical view on the one hand, and the civil view on the -other, there was small chance of harmony between town and village, or -between pastor, flock, and the overseers of both. The great point on -which they were all agreed was that they were all in special danger from -the extreme malice of Satan, who, foiled in Puritan England, was bent -on revenge in America, and was visibly and audibly present in the -settlement, seeking whom he might devour. - -Quarreling began with the appearance of the first minister, a young Mr. -Bayley, who was appointed from year to year, but never ordained the -pastor till 1679, when the authorities of Salem tried to force him -upon the people of Salem Village in the face of strong opposition. The -farmers disregarded the orders issued from the town, and managed their -religious affairs by general meetings of their own congregation; and at -length Mr. Bayley retired, leaving the society in a much worse temper -than he had found on his arrival. A handsome gift of land was settled -upon him, in acknowledgment of his services; he quitted the ministry, -and practiced medicine in Roxbury till his death, nearly thirty years -afterward. - - -REV. MR. BURROUGHS. - -His partisans were enemies of his successor, of course. Mr. Burroughs -was a man of even distinguished excellence in the pastoral relation, in -days when risks from Indians made that duty as perilous as the career -of the soldier in war time; but his flock were divided, church business -was neglected, he was allowed to fall into want. He withdrew, was -recalled to settle accounts, was arrested for debt in full meeting--the -debt being for the funeral expenses of his wife--was absolved from all -blame under the cruel neglect he had experienced--and left the Village. -Before he could hear in his remote home in Maine what was doing at -Salem in the first days of the Witch Tragedy, he was summoned to his -old neighborhood, was charged with sorcery on the most childish and -absurd testimony conceivable, and executed in August, 1692. One of the -witnesses--a young girl morbid in body and mind--poured out her remorse -to him the day before his death. He, believing her a victim of Satan, -forgave her, prayed with her, and died honored and beloved by all who -were not under the curse of the bigotry of the time. - - -DEODAT LAWSON. - -The third minister was one Deodat Lawson, who is notable--besides his -learning--for his Sermon on the Devil, and for some mournful mystery -about his end. Of his last days there is nothing known but that -there was something woeful in them; but his sermon, preached at the -commencement of the outbreak in Salem, remains to us. It was published -in America, and then widely circulated in England. It met the popular -craving for light about Satan and his doings; and thus, between its -appropriateness to the time and occasion, and the learning and ability -which it manifested, it produced an extraordinary effect in its day. In -ours it is an instructive evidence of the extent to which "knowledge -falsely so called" may operate on the mind of society, in the absence of -science, and before the time has arrived for a clear understanding of -the nature of knowledge and the conditions of its attainment. Mr. Lawson -bore a part in the Salem Tragedy, and then went to England, where we -hear of him from Calamy as "the unhappy Mr. Deodat Lawson," and he -disappears. - - -PARRIS--A MALIGNANT. - -The fourth and last of the ministers of Salem Village, before the -Tragedy, was the Mr. Parris who played the most conspicuous part in it. -He must have been a man of singular shamelessness, as well as remarkable -selfishness, craft, ruthlessness, and withal imprudence. He began his -operations with sharp bargaining about his stipend, and sharp practice -in appropriating the house and land assigned for the use of successive -pastors. He wrought diligently under the stimulus of his ambition till -he got his meeting-house sanctioned as a true church, and himself -ordained as the first pastor of Salem Village. This was in 1689. He -immediately launched out into such an exercise of priestly power as -could hardly be exceeded under any form of church government; he set -his people by the ears on every possible occasion and on every possible -pretense; he made his church a scandal in the land for its brawls and -controversies; and on him rests the responsibility of the disease and -madness which presently turned his parish into a hell, and made it -famous for the murder of the wisest, gentlest, and purest Christians -it contained. [This man Parris must have had an inferior intellect, -small Conscientiousness, Benevolence, and Veneration; large Firmness, -Self-Esteem, Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Acquisitiveness.] - - -A PROTEAN DEVIL. - -Before we look at his next proceeding, however, we must bring into view -one or two facts essential to the understanding of the case. We have -already observed on the universality of the belief in the ever-present -agency of Satan in that region and that special season. In the woods the -Red Men were his agents--living in and for his service and his worship. -In the open country, Satan himself was seen, as a black horse, a black -dog, as a tall, dark stranger, as a raven, a wolf, a cat, etc. Strange -incidents happened there as everywhere--odd bodily affections and mental -movements; and when devilish influences are watched for, they are sure -to be seen. Everybody was prepared for manifestations of witchcraft from -the first landing in the Bay; and there had been more and more cases, -not only rumored, but brought under investigation, for some years before -the final outbreak. - -This suggests the next consideration: that the generation concerned -had no "alternative" explanation within their reach, when perplexed by -unusual appearances or actions of body or mind. They believed themselves -perfectly certain about the Devil and his doings; and his agency was the -only solution of their difficulties, while it was a very complete one. -They thought they knew that his method of working was by human agents, -whom he had won over and bound to his service. They had all been brought -up to believe this; and they never thought of doubting it. - - -STATE OF PHYSIOLOGY. - -The very conception of science had then scarcely begun to be formed in -the minds of the wisest men of the time; and if it had been, who was -there to suggest that the handful of pulp contained in the human skull, -and the soft string of marrow in the spine, and cobweb lines of nerves, -apparently of no more account than the hairs of the head, could transmit -thoughts, emotions, passions--all the scenery of the spiritual world! -For two hundred years more there was no effectual recognition of -anything of the sort. At the end of those two centuries anatomists -themselves were slicing the brain like a turnip, to see what was inside -it,--not dreaming of the leading facts of its structure, nor of the -inconceivable delicacy of its organization. After half a century of -knowledge of the main truth in regard to the brain, and nearly that -period of study of its organization, by every established medical -authority in the civilized world, we are still perplexed and baffled -at every turn of the inquiry into the relations of body and mind. How, -then, can we make sufficient allowance for the effects of ignorance in -a community where theology was the main interest in life, where science -was yet unborn, and where all the influences of the period concurred -to produce and aggravate superstitions and bigotries which now seem -scarcely credible? - -[The reviewer appears to be a half believer in Phrenology, and yet -unwilling to acknowledge his indebtedness to its teachers for the light -he has received in the organization and phenomena of the brain.] - - -WILLIAM PENN AS A PRECEDENT. - -There had been misery enough caused by persecutions for witchcraft -within living memory to have warned Mr. Parris, one would think, how he -carried down his people into those troubled waters again; but at that -time such trials were regarded by society as trials for murder are by -us, and not as anything surprising except from the degree of wickedness. -William Penn presided at the trial of two Swedish women in Philadelphia -for this gravest of crimes; and it was only by the accident of a legal -informality that they escaped, the case being regarded with about the -same feeling as we experienced a year or two ago when the murderess of -infants, Charlotte Winsor, was saved from hanging by a doubt of the law. -If the crime spread--as it usually did--the municipal governments issued -an order for a day of fasting and humiliation, "in consideration of the -extent to which Satan prevails amongst us in respect of witchcraft." -Among the prosecutions which followed on such observances there was one -here and there which turned out, too late, to have been a mistake. -This kind of discovery might be made an occasion for more fasting and -humiliation; but it seems to have had no effect in inducing caution or -suggesting self-distrust. Mr. Parris and his partisans must have been -aware that on occasion of the last great spread of witchcraft, the -magistrates and the General Court had set aside the verdict of the jury -in one case of wrongful accusation, and that there were other instances -in which the general heart and conscience were cruelly wounded and -oppressed, under the conviction that the wisest and saintliest woman in -the community had been made away with by malice, at least as much as -mistaken zeal. - -The wife of one of the most honored and prominent citizens of Boston, -and the sister of the Deputy Governor of Massachusetts, Mrs. Hibbins, -might have been supposed safe from the gallows, while she walked in -uprightness, and all holiness and gentleness of living. But her husband -died; and the pack of fanatics sprang upon her, and tore her to -pieces--name and fame, fortune, life, and everything. She was hanged in -1656, and the farmers of Salem Village and their pastor were old enough -to know, in Mr. Parris' time, how the "famous Mr. Norton," an eminent -pastor, "once said at his own table"--before clergymen and elders--"that -one of their magistrates' wives was hanged for a witch, only for having -more wit than her neighbors;" and to be aware that in Boston "a deep -feeling of resentment" against her persecutors rankled in the minds of -some of her citizens; and that they afterward "observed solemn marks of -Providence set upon those who were very forward to condemn her." The -story of Mrs. Hibbins, as told in the book before us, with the brief -and simple comment of her own pleading in court, and the codicil to her -will, is so piteous and so fearful, that it is difficult to imagine how -any clergyman could countenance a similar procedure before the memory -of the execution had died out, and could be supported in his course -by officers of his church, and at length by the leading clergy of the -district, the magistrates, the physicians, "and devout women not a few." - -[Here are evidences of large Cautiousness, fear, and timidity, with the -vivid imagination of untrained childhood.] - - -PHENOMENA OF WITCHERY. - -In the interval between the execution of Mrs. Hibbins and the outbreak -at Salem an occasional breeze arose against some unpopular member of -society. If a man's ox was ill, if the beer ran out of the cask, if the -butter would not come in the churn, if a horse shied or was restless -when this or that man or woman was in sight; and if a woman knew when -her neighbors were talking about her (which was Mrs. Hibbins' most -indisputable proof of connection with the devil), rumors got about of -Satanic intercourse; men and women made deposition that six or seven -years before, they had seen the suspected person yawn in church, and -had observed a "devil's teat" distinctly visible under his tongue; and -children told of bears coming to them in the night, and of a buzzing -devil in the humble-bee, and of a cat on the bed thrice as big as an -ordinary cat. But the authorities, on occasion, exercised some caution. -They fined one accused person for telling a lie, instead of treating his -bragging as inspiration of the devil. They induced timely confession, or -discovered flaws in the evidence, as often as they could; so that there -was less disturbance in the immediate neighborhood than in some other -parts of the province. Where the Rev. Mr. Parris went, however, there -was no more peace and quiet, no more privacy in the home, no more -harmony in the church, no more goodwill or good manners in society. - -As soon as he was ordained he put perplexing questions about baptism -before the farmers, who rather looked to him for guidance in such -matters than expected to be exercised in theological mysteries which -they had never studied. He exposed to the congregation the spiritual -conflicts of individual members who were too humble for their own -comfort. He preached and prayed incessantly about his own wrongs and the -slights he suffered, in regard to his salary and supplies; and entered -satirical notes in the margin of the church records; so that he was as -abundantly discussed from house to house, and from end to end of his -parish, as he himself could have desired. In the very crisis of -the discontent, and when his little world was expecting to see him -dismissed, he saved himself, as we ourselves have of late seen other -persons relieve themselves under stress of mind and circumstances, by a -rush into the world of spirits. - -Four years previously, a poor immigrant, a Catholic Irishwoman, had -been hanged in Boston for bewitching four children, named Goodwin--one -of whom, a girl of thirteen, had sorely tried a reverend man, less -irascible than Mr. Parris, but nearly as excitable. The tricks that the -little girl played the Reverend Cotton Mather, when he endeavored to -exorcise the evil spirits, are precisely such as are familiar to us, in -cases which are common in the practice of every physician. If we can -not pretend to explain them--in the true sense of explaining--that is, -referring them to an ascertained law of nature, we know what to look for -under certain conditions, and are aware that it is the brain and nervous -system that is implicated in these phenomena, and not the Prince -of Darkness and his train. Cotton Mather had no alternative at his -disposal. Satan or nothing was his only choice. He published the story, -with all its absurd details; and it was read in almost every house in -the Province. At Salem it wrought with fatal effect, because there was a -pastor close by well qualified to make the utmost mischief out of it. - -[In cases of _hysteria_, the phenomena are sometimes so remarkable, that -one is disposed to attribute their cause to influences beyond nature.] - - -PARRIS AND HIS "CIRCLE." - -Mr. Parris had lived in the West Indies for some years, and had brought -several slaves with him to Salem. One of these, an Indian named John, -and Tituba his wife, seem to have been full of the gross superstitions -of their people, and of the frame and temperament best adapted for the -practices of demonology. In such a state of affairs the pastor actually -formed, or allowed to be formed, a society of young girls between the -ages of eight and eighteen to meet in his parsonage, strongly resembling -those "circles" in the America of our time which have filled the lunatic -asylums with thousands of victims of "spiritualist" visitations. It -seems that these young persons were laboring under strong nervous -excitement, which was encouraged rather than repressed by the means -employed by their spiritual director. Instead of treating them as the -subjects of morbid delusion, Mr. Parris regarded them as the victims of -external diabolical influence; and this influence was, strangely enough, -supposed to be exercised, on the evidence of the children themselves, by -some of the most pious and respectable members of the community. - -We need not describe the course of events. In the dull life of the -country, the excitement of the proceedings in the "circle" was welcome, -no doubt; and it was always on the increase. Whatever trickery there -might be--and no doubt there was plenty; whatever excitement to -hysteria, whatever actual sharpening of common faculties, it is clear -that there was more; and those who have given due and dispassionate -attention to the processes of mesmerism and their effects can have no -difficulty in understanding the reports handed down of what these young -creatures did, and said, and saw, under peculiar conditions of the -nervous system. When the physicians of the district could see no -explanation of the ailments of "the afflicted children" but "the evil -hand," no doubt could remain to those who consulted them of these -agonies being the work of Satan. The matter was settled at once. But -Satan can work only through human agents; and who were his instruments -for the affliction of these children? Here was the opening through which -calamity rushed in; and for half a year this favored corner of the godly -land of New England was turned into a hell. The more the children were -stared at and pitied, the bolder they grew in their vagaries, till at -last they broke through the restraints of public worship, and talked -nonsense to the minister in the pulpit, and profaned the prayers. Mr. -Parris assembled all the divines he could collect at his parsonage, and -made his troop go through their performances--the result of which was -a general groan over the manifest presence of the Evil One, and a -passionate intercession for "the afflicted children." - -[These afflicted children of Salem, in 1690, were kindred to the -numerous "mediums" of 1869. In the former, ignorance ascribed their -actions and revelations to the devil, who bewitched certain persons. -Now, we simply have the more innocent "communications" from where and -from whom you like.] - - -THE INQUISITIONS.--SARAH GOOD. - -The first step toward relief was to learn who it was that had stricken -them; and the readiest means that occurred was to ask this question of -the children themselves. At first, they named no names, or what they -said was not disclosed; but there was soon an end of all such delicacy. -The first symptoms had occurred in November, 1691; and the first public -examination of witches took place on the 1st of March following. We -shall cite as few of the cases as will suffice for our purpose; for -they are exceedingly painful; and there is something more instructive -for us in the spectacle of the consequences, and in the suggestions of -the story, than in the scenery of persecution and murder. - -In the first group of accused persons was one Sarah Good, a weak, -ignorant, poor, despised woman, whose equally weak and ignorant husband -had forsaken her, and left her to the mercy of evil tongues. He had -called her an enemy to all good, and had said that if she was not -a witch, he feared she would be one shortly. Her assertions under -examination were that she knew nothing about the matter; that she had -hurt nobody, nor employed anybody to hurt another; that she served -God; and that the God she served was He who made heaven and earth. It -appears, however, that she believed in the reality of the "affliction;" -for she ended by accusing a fellow-prisoner of having hurt the children. -The report of the examination, noted at the time by two of the heads of -the congregation, is inane and silly beyond belief; yet the celebration -was unutterably solemn to the assembled crowd of fellow-worshipers; and -it sealed the doom of the community, in regard to peace and good repute. - - -A CHILD WITCH. - -Mrs. Good was carried to jail. Not long after her little daughter -Dorcas, aged four years, was apprehended at the suit of the brothers -Putnam, chief citizens of Salem. There was plenty of testimony produced -of bitings and chokings and pinchings inflicted by this infant; and she -was committed to prison, and probably, as Mr. Upham says, fettered with -the same chains which bound her mother. Nothing short of chains could -keep witches from flying away; and they were chained at the cost of -the state, when they could not pay for their own irons. As these poor -creatures were friendless and poverty-stricken, it is some comfort to -find the jailer charging for "two blankets for Sarah Good's child," -costing ten shillings. - -What became of little Dorcas, with her healthy looks and natural -childlike spirits, noticed by her accusers, we do not learn. Her mother -lay in chains till the 29th of June, when she was brought out to receive -sentence. She was hanged on the 19th of July, after having relieved her -heart by vehement speech of some of the passion which weighed upon -it. She does not seem to have been capable of much thought. One of -the accusers was convicted of a flagrant lie, in the act of giving -testimony: but the narrator, Hutchinson, while giving the fact, treats -it as of no consequence, because Sir Matthew Hale and the jury of his -court were satisfied with the condemnation of a witch under precisely -the same circumstances. The parting glimpse we have of this first victim -is dismally true on the face of it. It is most characteristic. - -"Sarah Good appears to have been an unfortunate woman, having been -subject to poverty, and consequent sadness and melancholy. But she was -not wholly broken in spirit. Mr. Noyes, at the time of her execution, -urged her very strenuously to confess. Among other things, he told her -'she was a witch, and that she knew she was a witch.' She was conscious -of her innocence, and felt that she was oppressed, outraged, trampled -upon, and about to be murdered, under the forms of law; and her -indignation was roused against her persecutors. She could not bear in -silence the cruel aspersion; and although she was about to be launched -into eternity, the torrent of her feelings could not be restrained, but -burst upon the head of him who uttered the false accusation. 'You are a -liar,' said she. 'I am no more a witch than you are a wizard; and if you -take away my life, God will give you blood to drink.' Hutchinson says -that, in his day, there was a tradition among the people of Salem, and -it has descended to the present time, that the manner of Mr. Noyes' -death strangely verified the prediction thus wrung from the incensed -spirit of the dying woman. He was exceedingly corpulent, of a plethoric -habit, and died of an internal hemorrhage, bleeding profusely at the -mouth." (Vol. ii. p. 269.) - -When she had been in her grave nearly twenty years, her -representatives--little Dorcas perhaps for one--were presented with -thirty pounds sterling, as a grant from the Crown, as compensation for -the mistake of hanging her without reason and against evidence. - - -THE TOWNE SISTERS. - -In the early part of the century, a devout family named Towne were -living at Great Yarmouth, in the English county of Norfolk. About the -time of the King's execution they emigrated to Massachusetts. William -Towne and his wife carried with them two daughters; and another daughter -and a son were born to them afterward in Salem. The three daughters were -baptized at long intervals, and the eldest, Rebecca, must have been at -least twenty years older than Sarah, and a dozen or more years older -than Mary. A sketch of the fate of these three sisters contains within -it the history of a century. - -On the map which Mr. Upham presents us with, one of the most conspicuous -estates is an inclosure of 300 acres, which had a significant story of -its own--too long for us to enter upon. We need only say that there had -been many strifes about this property--fights about boundaries, and -stripping of timber, and a series of lawsuits. Yet, from 1678 onward, -the actual residents in the mansion had lived in peace, taking no notice -of wrangles which did not, under the conditions of purchase, affect -them, but only the former proprietor. The frontispiece of Mr. Upham's -book shows us what the mansion of an opulent landowner was like in the -early days of the colony. It is the portrait of the house in which the -eldest daughter of William Towne was living at the date of the Salem -Tragedy. - -Rebecca, then the aged wife of Francis Nurse, was a great-grandmother, -and between seventy and eighty years of age. No old age could have had -a more lovely aspect than hers. Her husband was, as he had always been, -devoted to her, and the estate was a colony of sons and daughters, and -their wives and husbands; for 'Landlord Nurse' had divided his land -between his four sons and three sons-in-law, and had built homesteads -for them all as they married and settled. Mrs. Nurse was in full -activity of faculty, except being somewhat deaf from age; and her health -was good, except for certain infirmities of long standing, which it -required the zeal and the malice of such a divine as Mr. Parris to -convert into "devil's marks." As for her repute in the society of which -she was the honored head, we learn what it was by the testimony supplied -by forty persons--neighbors and householders--who were inquired of in -regard to their opinion of her in the day of her sore trial. Some of -them had known her above forty years; they had seen her bring up a large -family in uprightness; they had remarked the beauty of her Christian -profession and conduct; and had never heard or observed any evil of her. -This was Rebecca, the eldest. - -The next, Mary, was now fifty-eight years old, the wife of "Goodman -Easty," the owner of a large farm. She had seven children, and was -living in ease and welfare of every sort when overtaken by the same -calamity as her sister Nurse. Sarah, the youngest, had married twice. -Her present husband was Peter Cloyse, whose name occurs in the parish -records, and in various depositions which show that he was a prominent -citizen. When Mr. Parris was publicly complaining of neglect in respect -of firewood for the parsonage, and of lukewarmness on the part of the -hearers of his services, "Landlord Nurse" was a member of the committee -who had to deal with him; and his relatives were probably among the -majority who were longing for Mr. Parris' apparently inevitable -departure. In these circumstances, it was not altogether surprising that -"the afflicted children" trained in the parsonage parlor, ventured, -after their first successes, to name the honored "Goody Nurse" as one -of the allies lately acquired by Satan. They saw her here, there, -everywhere, when she was sitting quietly at home; they saw her biting -the black servants, choking, pinching, pricking women and children; and -if she was examined, devil's marks would doubtless be found upon her. -She _was_ examined by a jury of her own sex. Neither the testimony of -her sisters and daughters as to her infirmities, nor the disgust of -decent neighbors, nor the commonest suggestions of reason and feeling, -availed to save her from the injury of being reported to have what the -witnesses were looking for. - -We have a glimpse of her in her home when the first conception of her -impending fate opened upon her. Four esteemed persons, one of whom was -her brother-in-law, Mr. Cloyse, made the following deposition, in the -prospect of the victim being dragged before the public: - -"We whose names are underwritten being desired to go to Goodman Nurse, -his house, to speak with his wife, and to tell her that several of the -afflicted persons mentioned her; and accordingly we went, and we found -her in a weak and low condition in body as she told us, and had been -sick almost a week. And we asked how it was otherwise with her; and -she said she blessed God for it, she had more of his presence in this -sickness than sometimes she have had, but not so much as she desired; -but she would, with the Apostle, press forward to the mark; and many -other places of Scripture to the like purpose. And then of her own -accord she began to speak of the affliction that was among them, and in -particular of Mr. Parris his family, and how she was grieved for them, -though she had not been to see them, by reason of fits that she formerly -used to have; for people said it was awful to behold: but she pitied -them with all her heart, and went to God for them. But she said she -heard that there was persons spoke of that were as innocent as she was, -she believed; and after much to this purpose, we told her we heard that -she was spoken of also. 'Well,' she said, 'if it be so, the will of the -Lord be done:' she sat still awhile being as it were amazed; and then -she said, 'Well, as to this thing I am as innocent as the child unborn; -but surely,' she said, 'what sin hath God found out in me unrepented -of, that he should lay such an affliction upon me in my old age?' and, -according to our best observation, we could not discern that she knew -what we came for before we told her. - - ISRAEL PORTER, DANIEL ANDREW, - ELIZABETH PORTER, PETER CLOYSE." - -On the 22d of March she was brought into the thronged meeting-house to -be accused before the magistrates, and to answer as she best could. We -must pass over those painful pages, where nonsense, spasms of hysteria, -new and strange to their worships, cunning, cruelty, blasphemy, -indecency, turned the house of prayer into a hell for the time. The aged -woman could explain nothing. She simply asserted her innocence, and -supposed that some evil spirit was at work. One thing more she could -do--she could endure with calmness malice and injustice which are too -much for our composure at a distance of nearly two centuries. She felt -the _animus_ of her enemies, and she pointed out how they perverted -whatever she said; but no impatient word escaped her. She was evidently -as perplexed as anybody present. When weary and disheartened, and worn -out with the noise and the numbers and the hysterics of the "afflicted," -her head drooped on one shoulder. Immediately all the "afflicted" had -twisted necks, and rude hands seized her head to set it upright, "lest -other necks should be broken by her ill offices." Everything went -against her, and the result was what had been hoped by the agitators. -The venerable matron was carried to jail and put in irons. - - -DEPOSITIONS OF PARRIS AND HIS TOOLS. - -Now Mr. Parris' time had arrived, and he broadly accused her of murder, -employing for the purpose a fitting instrument--Mrs. Ann Putnam, the -mother of one of the afflicted children, and herself of highly nervous -temperament, undisciplined mind, and absolute devotedness to her pastor. -Her deposition, preceded by a short one of Mr. Parris, will show the -quality of the evidence on which judicial murder was inflicted: - -"Mr. Parris gave in a deposition against her; from which it appears, -that, a certain person being sick, Mercy Lewis was sent for. She was -struck dumb on entering the chamber. She was asked to hold up her hand -if she saw any of the witches afflicting the patient. Presently she -held up her hand, then fell into a trance; and after a while, coming to -herself, said that she saw the spectre of Goody Nurse and Goody Carrier -having hold of the head of the sick man. Mr. Parris swore to this -statement with the utmost confidence in Mercy's declarations." (Vol. ii. -p. 275.) - -"The deposition of Ann Putnam, the wife of Thomas Putnam, aged about -thirty years, who testifieth and saith, that on March 18, 1692, I being -wearied out in helping to tend my poor afflicted child and maid, about -the middle of the afternoon I lay me down on the bed to take a little -rest; and immediately I was almost pressed and choked to death, that had -it not been for the mercy of a gracious God and the help of those that -were with me, I could not have lived many moments; and presently I -saw the apparition of Martha Corey, who did torture me so as I can not -express, ready to tear me all to pieces, and then departed from me a -little while; but, before I could recover strength or well take breath, -the apparition of Martha Corey fell upon me again with dreadful -tortures, and hellish temptation to go along with her. And she also -brought to me a little red book in her hand, and a black pen, urging -me vehemently to write in her book; and several times that day she did -most grievously torture me, almost ready to kill me. And on the 19th of -March, Martha Corey again appeared to me; and also Rebecca Nurse, the -wife of Francis Nurse, Sr.; and they both did torture me a great many -times this day, with such tortures as no tongue can express, because -I would not yield to their hellish temptations, that, had I not been -upheld by an Almighty arm, I could not have lived while night. The 20th -of March, being Sabbath-day, I had a great deal of respite between my -fits. 21st of March being the day of the examination of Martha Corey, -I had not many fits, though I was very weak; my strength being, as I -thought, almost gone; but, on 22d of March, 1692, the apparition of -Rebecca Nurse did again set upon me in a most dreadful manner, very -early in the morning, as soon as it was well light. And now she appeared -to me only in her shift, and brought a little red book in her hand, -urging me vehemently to write in her book; and, because I would not -yield to her hellish temptations, she threatened to tear my soul out of -my body, blasphemously denying the blessed God, and the power of the -Lord Jesus Christ to save my soul; and denying several places of -Scripture, which I told her of, to repel her hellish temptations. And -for near two hours together, at this time, the apparition of Rebecca -Nurse did tempt and torture me, and also the greater part of this day, -with but very little respite. 23d of March, am again afflicted by the -apparitions of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey, but chiefly by Rebecca -Nurse. 24th of March, being the day of the examination of Rebecca Nurse, -I was several times afflicted in the morning by the apparition of -Rebecca Nurse, but most dreadfully tortured by her in the time of her -examination, insomuch that the honored magistrates gave my husband leave -to carry me out of the meeting-house; and, as soon as I was carried out -of the meeting-house doors, it pleased Almighty God, for his free grace -and mercy's sake, to deliver me out of the paws of those roaring lions, -and jaws of those tearing bears, that, ever since that time, they have -not had power so to afflict me until this May 31, 1692. At the same -moment that I was hearing my evidence read by the honored magistrates, -to take my oath, I was again re-assaulted and tortured by my -before-mentioned tormentor, Rebecca Nurse." "The testimony of Ann -Putnam, Jr., witnesseth and saith, that, being in the room where her -mother was afflicted, she saw Martha Corey, Sarah Cloyse, and Rebecca -Nurse, or their apparitions, upon her mother." - -"Mrs. Ann Putnam made another deposition under oath at the same trial, -which shows that she was determined to overwhelm the prisoner by the -multitude of her charges. She says that Rebecca Nurse's apparition -declared to her that 'she had killed Benjamin Houlton, John Fuller, -and Rebecca Shepherd;' and that she and her sister Cloyse, and Edward -Bishop's wife, had killed young John Putnam's child; and she further -deposed as followeth: 'Immediately there did appear to me six children -in winding-sheets, which called me aunt, which did most grievously -affright me; and they told me that they were my sister Baker's children -of Boston; and that Goody Nurse, and Mistress Corey of Charlestown, and -an old deaf woman at Boston, had murdered them, and charged me to go -and tell these things to the magistrates, or else they would tear me to -pieces, for their blood did cry for vengeance. Also there appeared to me -my own sister Bayley and three of her children in winding-sheets, and -told me that Goody Nurse had murdered them.'" (Vol. ii. p. 278.) - -All the efforts made to procure testimony against the venerable -gentlewoman's character issued in a charge that she had so "railed at" a -neighbor for allowing his pigs to get into her field that, some short -time after, early in the morning, he had a sort of fit in his own entry, -and languished in health from that day, and died in a fit at the end of -the summer. "He departed this life by a cruel death," murdered by Goody -Nurse. The jury did not consider this ground enough for hanging the old -lady, who had been the ornament of their church and the glory of their -village and its society. Their verdict was "Not Guilty." Not for a -moment, however, could the prisoner and her family hope that their -trial was over. The outside crowd clamored; the "afflicted" howled and -struggled; one judge declared himself dissatisfied; another promised to -have her indicted anew; and the Chief Justice pointed out a phrase of -the prisoner's which might be made to signify that she was one of the -accused gang in guilt, as well as in jeopardy. It might really seem -as if the authorities were all driveling together, when we see the -ingenuity and persistence with which they discussed those three words, -"of our company." Her remonstrance ought to have moved them: - -"I intended no otherwise than as they were prisoners with us, and -therefore did then, and yet do, judge them not legal evidence against -their fellow-prisoners. And I being something hard of hearing and full -of grief, none informing me how the Court took up my words, therefore -had no opportunity to declare what I intended when I said they were of -our company." (Vol. ii. p. 285.) - -The foreman of the jury would have taken the favorable view of this -matter, and have allowed full consideration, while other jurymen were -eager to recall the mistake of their verdict; but the prisoner's -silence, from failing to hear when she was expected to explain, turned -the foreman against her, and caused him to declare, "whereupon these -words were to me a principal evidence against her." Still, it seemed too -monstrous to hang her. After her condemnation, the Governor reprieved -her; probably on the ground of the illegality of setting aside the first -verdict of the jury, in the absence of any new evidence. But the outcry -against mercy was so fierce that the Governor withdrew his reprieve. - - -GOODY NURSE'S EXCOMMUNICATION. - -On the next Sunday there was a scene in the church, the record of which -was afterward annotated by the church members in a spirit of grief and -humiliation. After sacrament the elders propounded to the church, and -the congregation unanimously agreed, that Sister Nurse, being convicted -as a witch by the court, should be excommunicated in the afternoon of -the same day. The place was thronged; the reverend elders were in the -pulpit; the deacons presided below; the sheriff and his officers brought -in the witch, and led her up the broad aisle, her chains clanking as she -moved. As she stood in the middle of the aisle, the Reverend Mr. Noyes -pronounced her sentence of expulsion from the Church on earth, and from -all hope of salvation hereafter. As she had given her soul to Satan, -she was delivered over to him for ever. She was aware that every -eye regarded her with horror and hate, unapproached under any other -circumstances; but it appears that she was able to sustain it. She was -still calm and at peace on that day, and during the fortnight of final -waiting. When the time came, she traversed the streets of Salem between -houses in which she had been an honored guest, and surrounded by -well-known faces; and then there was the hard task, for her aged limbs, -of climbing the rocky and steep path on Witches' Hill to the place where -the gibbets stood in a row, and the hangman was waiting for her, and for -Sarah Good, and several more of whom Salem chose to be rid that day. It -was the 19th of July, 1692. The bodies were put out of the way on the -hill, like so many dead dogs; but this one did not remain there long. -By pious hands it was--nobody knew when--brought home to the domestic -cemetery, where the next generation pointed out the grave, next to her -husband's, and surrounded by those of her children. As for her repute, -Hutchinson, the historian, tells us that even excommunication could not -permanently disgrace her. "Her life and conversation had been such, -that the remembrance thereof, in a short time after, wiped off all the -reproach occasioned by the civil or ecclesiastical sentence against -her." (Vol. ii. p. 292.) - -[Great God! and is this the road our ancestors had to travel in their -pilgrimage in quest of freedom and Christianity? Are these the fruits of -the misunderstood doctrine of total depravity?] - -Thus much comfort her husband had till he died in 1695. In a little -while none of his eight children remained unmarried, and he wound up -his affairs. He gave over the homestead to his son Samuel, and divided -all he had among the others, reserving only a mare and her saddle, some -favorite articles of furniture, and £14 a year, with a right to call on -his children for any further amount that might be needful. He made no -will, and his children made no difficulties, but tended his latter days, -and laid him in his own ground, when at seventy-seven years old he died. - -In 1711, the authorities of the Province, sanctioned by the Council -of Queen Anne, proposed such reparation as their heart and conscience -suggested. They made a grant to the representatives of Rebecca Nurse of -£25! In the following year something better was done, on the petition of -the son Samuel who inhabited the homestead. A church meeting was called; -the facts of the excommunication of twenty years before were recited, -and a reversal was proposed, "the General Court having taken off the -attainder, and the testimony on which she was convicted being not now so -satisfactory to ourselves and others as it was generally in that hour -of darkness and temptation." The remorseful congregation blotted out -the record in the church book, "humbly requesting that the merciful God -would pardon whatsoever sin, error, or mistake was in the application of -that censure, and of the whole affair, through our merciful High Priest, -who knoweth how to have compassion on the ignorant, and those that are -out of the way." (Vol. ii. p. 483.) - - -MARY EASTY. - -Such was the fate of Rebecca, the eldest of the three sisters. Mary, -the next--once her playmate on the sands of Yarmouth, in the old -country--was her companion to the last, in love and destiny. Mrs. Easty -was arrested, with many other accused persons, on the 21st of April, -while her sister was in jail in irons. The testimony against her was a -mere repetition of the charges of torturing, strangling, pricking, and -pinching Mr. Parris' young friends, and rendering them dumb, or blind, -or amazed. Mrs. Easty was evidently so astonished and perplexed by the -assertions of the children, that the magistrates inquired of the voluble -witnesses whether they might not be mistaken. As they were positive, and -Mrs. Easty could say only that she supposed it was "a bad spirit," but -did not know "whether it was witchcraft or not," there was nothing to -be done but to send her to prison and put her in irons. The next we hear -of her is, that on the 18th of May she was free. The authorities, it -seems, would not detain her on such evidence as was offered. She was at -large for two days, and no more. The convulsions and tortures of the -children returned instantly, on the news being told of Goody Easty being -abroad again; and the ministers, and elders, and deacons, and all the -zealous antagonists of Satan went to work so vigorously to get up a -fresh case, that they bore down all before them. Mercy Lewis was so near -death under the hands of Mrs. Easty's apparition that she was crying out -"Dear Lord! receive my soul!" and thus there was clearly no time to be -lost; and this choking and convulsion, says an eminent citizen, acting -as a witness, "occurred very often until such time as we understood Mary -Easty was laid in irons." - -There she was lying when her sister Nurse was tried, excommunicated, -and executed; and to the agony of all this was added the arrest of her -sister Sarah, Mrs. Cloyse. But she had such strength as kept her serene -up to the moment of her death on the gibbet on the 22d of September -following. We would fain give, if we had room, the petition of the two -sisters, Mrs. Easty and Mrs. Cloyse, to the court, when their trial was -pending; but we can make room only for the last clause of its reasoning -and remonstrance. - -"Thirdly, that the testimony of witches, or such as are afflicted as is -supposed by witches, may not be improved to condemn us without other -legal evidence concurring. We hope the honored Court and jury will be -so tender of the lives of such as we are, who have for many years lived -under the unblemished reputation of Christianity, as not to condemn them -without a fair and equal hearing of what may be said for us as well as -against us. And your poor suppliants shall be bound always to pray, -etc." (Vol. ii. p. 326.) - -Still more affecting is the Memorial of Mrs. Easty when under sentence -of death and fully aware of the hopelessness of her case. She addresses -the judges, the magistrates, and the reverend ministers, imploring them -to consider what they are doing, and how far their course in regard to -accused persons is consistent with the principles and rules of justice. -She asks nothing for herself; she is satisfied with her own innocency, -and certain of her doom on earth and her hope in heaven. What she -desires is to induce the authorities to take time, to use caution -in receiving and strictness in sifting testimony; and so shall they -ascertain the truth, and absolve the innocent, the blessing of God -being upon their conscientious endeavors. We do not know of any -effect produced by her warning and remonstrance; but we find her case -estimated, twenty years afterward, as meriting a compensation of £20! -[About one hundred dollars.] Before setting forth from the jail to the -Witches' Hill, on the day of her death, she serenely bade farewell to -her husband, her many children, and her friends, some of whom related -afterward that "her sayings were as serious, religious, distinct, and -affectionate as could well be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of -almost all present." - - -MRS. CLOYSE. - -The third of this family of dignified gentlewomen seems to have had a -keener sensibility than her sisters, or a frame less strong to endure -the shocks prepared and inflicted by the malice of the enemy. Some of -the incidents of her implication in the great calamity are almost too -moving to be dwelt on, even in a remote time and country. Mrs. Cloyse -drew ill-will upon herself at the outset by doing as her brother and -sister Nurse did. They all absented themselves from the examinations -in the church, and, when the interruptions of the services became too -flagrant, from Sabbath worship; and they said they took that course -because they disapproved of the permission given to the profanation -of the place and the service. They were communicants, and persons of -consideration, both in regard to character and position; and their quiet -disapprobation of the proceedings of the ministers and their company of -accusers subjected them to the full fury of clerical wrath and womanish -spite. When the first examination of Mrs. Nurse took place, Mrs. Cloyse -was of course overwhelmed with horror and grief. The next Sunday, -however, was Sacrament Sunday; and she and her husband considered it -their duty to attend the ordinance. The effort to Mrs. Cloyse was so -great that when Mr. Parris gave out his text, "One of you is a devil. He -spake of Judas Iscariot," etc., and when he opened his discourse with -references in his special manner to the transactions of the week, the -afflicted sister of the last victim could not endure the outrage. She -left the meeting. There was a fresh wind, and the door slammed as she -went out, fixing the attention of all present, just as Mr. Parris could -have desired. She had not to wait long for the consequences. On the 4th -of April she was apprehended with several others; and on the 11th her -examination took place, the questions being framed to suit the evidence -known to be forthcoming, and Mr. Parris being the secretary for the -occasion. The witness in one case was asked whether she saw a company -eating and drinking at Mr. Parris', and she replied, as expected, that -she did. "What were they eating and drinking?" Of course, it was the -Devil's sacrament; and Mr. Parris, by leading questions, brought out the -testimony that about forty persons partook of that hell-sacrament, Mrs. -Cloyse and Sarah Good being the two deacons! When accused of the usual -practices of cruelty to these innocent suffering children, and to the -ugly, hulking Indian slave, who pretended to show the marks of her -teeth, Mrs. Cloyse gave some vent to her feelings. "When did I hurt -thee?" "A great many times," said the Indian. "O, you are a grievous -liar!" exclaimed she. But the wrath gave way under the soul-sickness -which overcame her when charged with biting and pinching a black man, -and throttling children, and serving their blood at the blasphemous -supper. Her sisters in prison, her husband accused with her, and young -girls--mere children--now manifesting a devilish cruelty to her, who had -felt nothing but good-will to them--she could not sustain herself before -the assembly whose eyes were upon her. She sank down, calling for water. -She fainted on the floor, and some of the accusing children cried out, -"Oh! her spirit has gone to prison to her sister Nurse!" From that -examination she was herself carried to prison. - -When she joined her sister Easty in the petition to the Court in the -next summer, she certainly had no idea of escaping the gallows; but it -does not appear that she was ever brought to trial. Mr. Parris certainly -never relented; for we find him from time to time torturing the feelings -of this and every other family whom he supposed to be anything but -affectionate to him. Some of the incidents would be almost incredible to -us if they were not recorded in the church and parish books in Mr. -Parris' own distinct handwriting. - -On the 14th of August, when the corpse of Rebecca Nurse was lying among -the rocks on the Witches' Hill, and her two sisters were in irons in -Boston jail (for Boston had now taken the affair out of the hands of -the unaided Salem authorities), and his predecessor, Mr. Burroughs, was -awaiting his execution, Mr. Parris invited his church members to remain -after service to hear something that he had to say. He had to point out -to the vigilance of the church that Samuel Nurse, the son of Rebecca, -and his wife, and Peter Cloyse and certain others, of late had failed -to join the brethren at the Lord's table, and had, except Samuel Nurse, -rarely appeared at ordinary worship. These outraged and mourning -relatives of the accused sisters were decreed to be visited by certain -pious representatives of the church, and the reason of their absence -to be demanded. The minister, the two deacons, and a chief member were -appointed to this fearful task. The report delivered in on the 31st of -August was: - -"Brother Tarbell proves sick, unmeet for discourse; Brother Cloyse hard -to be found at home, being often with his wife in the prison at Ipswich -for witchcraft; and Brother Samuel Nurse, and sometimes his wife, -attends our public meeting, and he the sacrament, 11th of September, -1692: upon all which we chose to wait further." (Vol. ii. p. 486.) - -This decision to pause was noted as the first token of the decline of -the power of the ministers. Mr. Parris was sorely unwilling to yield -even this much advantage to Satan--that is, to family affection and -instinct of justice. But his position was further lowered by the -departure from the parish of some of the most eminent members of its -society. Mr. Cloyse never brought his family to the Village again, -when his wife was once out of prison; and the name disappears from the -history of Salem. - - -THE PROCTOR FAMILY. - -We have sketched the life of one family out of many, and we will leave -the rest for such of our readers as may choose to learn more. Some of -the statements in the book before us disclose a whole family history in -a few words; as the following in relation to John Proctor and his wife: - -"The bitterness of the prosecutors against Proctor was so vehement that -they not only arrested, and tried to destroy, his wife and all his -family above the age of infancy, in Salem, but all her relatives in -Lynn, many of whom were thrown into prison. The helpless children were -left destitute, and the house swept of its provisions by the sheriff. -Proctor's wife gave birth to a child about a fortnight after his -execution. This indicates to what alone she owed her life. John Proctor -had spoken so boldly against the proceedings, and all who had part in -them, that it was felt to be necessary to put him out of the way." (Vol. -ii. p. 312.) - -The Rev. Mr. Noyes, the worthy coadjutor of Mr. Parris, refused to pray -with Mr. Proctor before his death, unless he would confess; and the more -danger there seemed to be of a revival of pity, humility, and reason, -the more zealous waxed the wrath of the pious pastors against the Enemy -of Souls. When, on the fearful 22d of September, Mr. Noyes stood looking -at the execution, he exclaimed that it was a sad thing to see eight -firebrands of hell hanging there! The spectacle was never seen again on -Witches' Hill. - - -THE JACOBS FAMILY. - -The Jacobs family was signalized by the confession of one of its -members--Margaret, one of the "afflicted" girls. She brought her -grandfather to the gallows, and suffered as much as a weak, ignorant, -impressionable person under evil influences could suffer from doubt -and remorse. But she married well seven years afterward--still feeling -enough in regard to the past to refuse to be married by Mr. Noyes. She -deserved such peace of mind as she obtained, for she retracted the -confession of witchcraft which she had made, and went to prison. It was -too late then to save her victims, Mr. Burroughs and her grandfather, -but she obtained their full and free forgiveness. At that time this was -the condition of the family: - -"No account has come to us of the deportment of George Jacobs, Sr., at -his execution. As he was remarkable in life for the firmness of his -mind, so he probably was in death. He had made his will before the -delusion arose. It is dated January 29, 1692, and shows that he, like -Proctor, had a considerable estate.... In his infirm old age he had been -condemned to die for a crime of which he knew himself innocent, and -which there is some reason to believe he did not think any one capable -of committing. He regarded the whole thing as a wicked conspiracy -and absurd fabrication. He had to end his long life upon a scaffold -in a week from that day. His house was desolated, and his property -sequestered. His only son, charged with the same crime, had eluded the -sheriff--leaving his family, in the hurry of his flight, unprovided -for--and was an exile in foreign lands. The crazy wife of that son was -in prison and in chains, waiting trial on the same charge; her little -children, including an unweaned infant, left in a deserted and -destitute condition in the woods. The older children were scattered he -knew not where, while one of them had completed the bitterness of his -lot by becoming a confessor, upon being arrested with her mother as a -witch. This granddaughter, Margaret, overwhelmed with fright and horror, -bewildered by the statements of the accusers, and controlled probably by -the arguments and arbitrary methods of address employed by her minister, -Mr. Noyes--whose peculiar function in those proceedings seems to have -been to drive persons accused to make confession--had been betrayed into -that position, and became a confessor and accuser of others." (Vol. ii. -p. 312.) - - -GILES AND MARTHA COREY. - -The life and death of a prominent citizen, Giles Corey, should not be -altogether passed over in a survey of such a community and such a time. -He had land, and was called "Goodman Corey;" but he was unpopular from -being too rough for even so young a state of society. He was once tried -for the death of a man whom he had used roughly, but he was only fined. -He had strifes and lawsuits with his neighbors; but he won three wives, -and there was due affection between him and his children. He was eighty -years old when the Witch Delusion broke out, and was living alone with -his wife Martha--a devout woman who spent much of her time on her -knees, praying against the snares of Satan, that is, the delusion -about witchcraft. She spoke freely of the tricks of the children, the -blindness of the magistrates, and the falling away of many from common -sense and the word of God; and while her husband attended every public -meeting, she stayed at home to pray. In his fanaticism he quarreled -with her, and she was at once marked out for a victim, and one of the -earliest. When visited by examiners, she smiled, and conversed with -entire composure, declaring that she was no witch, and that "she did -not think that there were any witches." By such sayings, and by the -expressions of vexation that fell from her husband, and the fanaticism -of two of her four sons-in-law, she was soon brought to extremity. But -her husband was presently under accusation too; and much amazed he -evidently was at his position. His wife was one of the eight "firebrands -of hell" whom Mr. Noyes saw swung off on the 22d of September. "Martha -Corey," said the record, "protesting her innocency, concluded her life -with an eminent prayer on the scaffold." Her husband had been supposed -certain to die in the same way; but he had chosen a different one. His -anguish at his rash folly at the outset of the delusion excited the -strongest desire to bear testimony on behalf of his wife and other -innocent persons, and to give an emphatic blessing to the two -sons-in-law who had been brave and faithful in his wife's cause. He -executed a deed by which he presented his excellent children with his -property in honor of their mother's memory; and, aware that if tried he -would be condemned and executed, and his property forfeited, he resolved -not to plead, and to submit to the consequence of standing mute. Old -as he was, he endured it. He stood mute, and the court had, as the -authorities believed, no alternative. He was pressed to death, as -devoted husbands and fathers were, here and there, in the Middle -Ages, when they chose to save their families from the consequences of -attainders by dying untried. We will not sicken our readers with the -details of the slow, cruel, and disgusting death. He bore it, only -praying for heavier weights to shorten his agony. Such a death and such -a testimony, and the execution of his wife two days later, weighed on -every heart in the community; and no revival of old charges against the -rough colonist had any effect in the presence of such an act as his -last. He was long believed to haunt the places where he lived and died; -and the attempt made by the ministers and one of their "afflicted" -agents to impress the church and society with a vision which announced -his damnation, was a complete failure. Cotton Mather showed that Ann -Putnam had received a divine communication, proving Giles Corey a -murderer; and Ann Putnam's father laid the facts before the judge; but -it was too late now for visions, and for insinuations to the judges, and -for clerical agitation to have any success. Brother Noyes hurried on a -church meeting while Giles Corey was actually lying under the weights, -to excommunicate him for witchcraft on the one hand, or suicide on the -other; and the ordinance was passed. But it was of no avail against the -rising tide of reason and sympathy. This was the last vision, and the -last attempt to establish one in Salem, if not in the Province. It -remained for Mr. Noyes, and the Mathers, and Mr. Parris, and every -clergyman concerned, to endure the popular hatred and their own -self-questioning for the rest of their days. The lay authorities were -stricken with remorse and humbled with grief; but their share of the -retribution was more endurable than that of the pastors who had proved -so wolfish toward their flocks. - - -DECLINE OF THE DELUSION. - -In the month of September, 1692, they believed themselves in the thick -of "the fight between the Devil and the Lamb." Cotton Mather was nimble -and triumphant on the Witches' Hill whenever there were "firebrands of -hell" swinging there; and they all hoped to do much good work for the -Lord yet, for they had lists of suspected persons in their pockets, who -must be brought into the courts month by month, and carted off to the -hill. One of the gayest and most complacent letters on the subject of -this "fight" in the correspondence of Cotton Mather is dated on the 20th -of September, 1692, within a month of the day when he was improving the -occasion at the foot of the gallows where the former pastor, Rev. George -Burroughs, and four others were hung. In the interval fifteen more -received sentence of death; Giles Corey had died his fearful death the -day before; and in two days after, Corey's widow and seven more were -hanged. Mather, Noyes, and Parris had no idea that these eight would be -the last. But so it was. Thus far, one only had escaped after being made -sure of in the courts. The married daughter of a clergyman had been -condemned, was reprieved by the Governor, and was at last discharged on -the ground of the insufficiency of the evidence. Henceforth, after that -fearful September day, no evidence was found sufficient. The accusers -had grown too audacious in their selection of victims; their clerical -patrons had become too openly determined to give no quarter. The Rev. -Francis Dane signed memorials to the Legislature and the Courts on -the 18th of October, against the prosecutions. He had reason to know -something about them, for we hear of nine at least of his children, -grandchildren, relatives, and servants who had been brought under -accusation. He pointed out the snare by which the public mind, as well -as the accused themselves, had been misled--the escape afforded to such -as would confess. When one spoke out, others followed. When a reasonable -explanation was afforded, ordinary people were only too thankful to -seize upon it. Though the prisons were filled, and the courts occupied -over and over again, there were no more horrors; the accused were all -acquitted; and in the following May, Sir William Phipps discharged all -the prisoners by proclamation. "Such a jail-delivery has never been -known in New England," is the testimony handed down. The Governor was -aware that the clergy, magistrates, and judges, hitherto active, were -full of wrath at his course but public opinion now demanded a reversal -of the administration of the last fearful year. - - -THE PHYSIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES OF THE TROUBLE. - -As to the striking feature of the case--the confessions of so large a -proportion of the accused--Mr. Upham manifests the perplexity which we -encounter in almost all narrators of similar scenes. In all countries -and times in which trials for witchcraft have taken place, we find the -historians dealing anxiously with the question--how it could happen that -so many persons declared themselves guilty of an impossible offense, -when the confession must seal their doom? The solution most commonly -offered is one that may apply to a case here and there, but certainly -can not be accepted as disposing of any large number. It is assumed that -the victim preferred being killed at once to living on under suspicion, -insult, and ill-will, under the imputation of having dealt with -the Devil. Probable as this may be in the case of a stout-hearted, -reasoning, forecasting person possessed of nerve to carry out a policy -of suicide, it can never be believed of any considerable proportion of -the ordinary run of old men and women charged with sorcery. The love of -life and the horror of a cruel death at the hands of the mob or of the -hangman are too strong to admit of a deliberate sacrifice so bold, on -the part of terrified and distracted old people like the vast majority -of the accused; while the few of a higher order, clearer in mind and -stronger in nerve, would not be likely to effect their escape from an -unhappy life by a lie of the utmost conceivable gravity. If, in the -Salem case, life was saved by confession toward the last, it was for a -special reason; and it seems to be a singular instance of such a mode of -escape. Some other mode of explanation is needed; and the observations -of modern inquiry supply it. There can be no doubt now that the -sufferers under nervous disturbances, the subjects of abnormal -condition, found themselves in possession of strange faculties, and -thought themselves able to do new and wonderful things. When urged to -explain how it was, they could only suppose, as so many of the Salem -victims did, that it was by "some evil spirit;" and except where -there was such an intervening agency as Mr. Parris' "circle," the -only supposition was that the intercourse between the Evil Spirit and -themselves was direct. It is impossible even now to witness the curious -phenomena of somnambulism and catalepsy without a keen sense of how -natural and even inevitable it was for similar subjects of the Middle -Ages and in Puritan times to believe themselves ensnared by Satan, and -actually endowed with his gifts, and to confess their calamity, as the -only relief to their scared and miserable minds. This explanation seems -not to have occurred to Mr. Upham; and, for want of it, he falls into -great amazement at the elaborate artifice with which the sufferers -invented their confessions, and adapted them to the state of mind of the -authorities and the public. With the right key in his hand, he would -have seen only what was simple and natural where he now bids us marvel -at the pitch of artfulness and skill attained by poor wretches scared -out of their natural wits. - -The spectacle of the ruin that was left is very melancholy. Orphan -children were dispersed; homes were shut up, and properties lost; and -what the temper was in which these transactions left the churches and -the village, and the society of the towns, the pastors and the flocks, -the Lord's table, the social gathering, the justice hall, the market, -and every place where men were wont to meet, we can conceive. It was -evidently long before anything like a reasonable and genial temper -returned to society in and about Salem. The acknowledgments of error -made long after were half-hearted, and so were the expressions of -grief and pity in regard to the intolerable woes of the victims. It is -scarcely intelligible how the admissions on behalf of the wronged should -have been so reluctant, and the sympathy with the devoted love of their -nearest and dearest so cold. We must cite what Mr. Upham says in honor -of these last, for such solace is needed: - -"While, in the course of our story, we have witnessed some shocking -instances of the violation of the most sacred affections and obligations -of life, in husbands and wives, parents and children, testifying against -each other, and exerting themselves for mutual destruction, we must not -overlook the many instances in which filial, parental, and fraternal -fidelity and love have shone conspicuously. It was dangerous to befriend -an accused person. Proctor stood by his wife to protect her, and it cost -him his life. Children protested against the treatment of their parents, -and they were all thrown into prison. Daniel Andrew, a citizen of high -standing, who had been deputy to the General Court, asserted, in the -boldest language, his belief of Rebecca Nurse's innocence; and he had to -fly the country to save his life. Many devoted sons and daughters clung -to their parents, visited them in prison in defiance of a blood-thirsty -mob; kept by their side on the way to execution; expressed their -love, sympathy, and reverence to the last; and, by brave and perilous -enterprise, got possession of their remains, and bore them back under -the cover of midnight to their own thresholds, and to graves kept -consecrated by their prayers and tears. One noble young man is said to -have effected his mother's escape from the jail, and secreted her in -the woods until after the delusion had passed away, provided food and -clothing for her, erected a wigwam for her shelter, and surrounded her -with every comfort her situation would admit of. The poor creature must, -however, have endured a great amount of suffering; for one of her larger -limbs was fractured in the all but desperate attempt to rescue her from -the prison walls." (Vol. ii. p. 348.) - -The act of reversal of attainder, passed early in the next century, -tells us that "some of the principal accusers and witnesses in those -dark and severe prosecutions have since discovered themselves to be -persons of profligate and vicious conversation;" and on no other -authority we are assured that, "not without spot before, they became -afterward abandoned to open vice." This was doubtless true of some; but -of many it was not; and of this we shall have a word to say presently. - - -THE LAST OF PARRIS. - -Mr. Parris' parsonage soon went to ruin, as did some of the dwellings -of the "afflicted" children, who learned and practiced certain things -in his house which he afterward pronounced to be arts of Satan, and -declared to have been pursued without his knowledge and with the -cognizance of only his servants (John and Tituba, the Indian and the -negress). Barn, and well, and garden disappeared in a sorry tract of -rough ground, and the dwelling became a mere handful of broken bricks. -The narrative of the pastor's struggles and devices to retain his pulpit -is very interesting; but they are not related to our object here; and -all we need say is, that three sons and sons-in-law of Mrs. Nurse -measured their strength against his, and, without having said an -intemperate or superfluous word, or swerved from the strictest rules of -congregational action, sent him out of the parish. He finally opined -that "evil angels" had been permitted to tempt him and his coadjutors on -either hand; he admitted that some mistakes had been made; and, said -he, "I do humbly own this day, before the Lord and his people, that God -has been righteously spitting in my face; and I desire to lie low under -all this reproach," etc.; but the remonstrants could not again sit -under his ministry, and his brethren in the Province did not pretend to -exculpate him altogether. He buried his wife--against whom no record -remains--and departed with his children, the eldest of whom, the -playfellow of the "afflicted" children, he had sent away before she -had taken harm in the "circle." He drifted from one small outlying -congregation to another, neglected and poor, restless and untamed, -though mortified, till he died in 1720. Mr. Noyes died somewhat earlier. -He is believed not to have undergone much change, as to either his views -or his temper. He was a kind-hearted and amiable man when nothing came -in the way; but he could hold no terms with Satan; and in this he -insisted to the last that he was right. - -Cotton Mather was the survivor of the other two. He died in 1728; and he -never was happy again after that last batch of executions. He trusted to -his merits, and the genius he exhibited under that onslaught of Satan, -to raise him to the highest post of clerical power in the Province, and -to make him--what he desired above all else--President of Harvard -University. Mr. Upham presents us with a remarkable meditation written -by the unhappy man, so simple and ingenious that it is scarcely possible -to read it gravely; but the reader is not the less sensible of his -misery. The argument is a sort of remonstrance with God on the -recompense his services have met with. He has been appointed to serve -the world, and the world does not regard him; the negroes, and (who -could believe it?) the negroes are named Cotton Mather in contempt of -him; the wise and the unwise despise him; in every company he is avoided -and left alone; the female sex, and they speak basely of him; his -relatives, and they are such monsters that he may truly say, "I am a -brother to dragons;" the Government, and it heaps indignities upon him; -the University, and if he were a blockhead, it could not treat him worse -than it does. He is to serve all whom he can aid, and nobody ever does -anything for him; he is to serve all to whom he can be a helpful and -happy minister, and yet he is the most afflicted minister in the -country; and many consider his afflictions to be so many miscarriages, -and his sufferings in proportion to his sins. There was no popularity or -power for him from the hour when he stood to see his brother Burroughs -put to death on the Hill. He seems never to have got over his surprise -at his own failures; but he sank into deeper mortification and a more -childish peevishness to the end. - - -"ONE OF THE AFFLICTED"--HER CONFESSION. - -Of only one of the class of express accusers--of the "afflicted"--will -we speak; but not because she was the only one reclaimed. One bewildered -child we have described as remorseful, and brave in her remorse; and -others married as they would hardly have done if they had been among the -"profligate." Ann Putnam's case remains the most prominent, and the most -pathetic. She was twelve years old when the "circle" at Mr. Parris' -was formed. She had no check from her parents, but much countenance -and encouragement from her morbidly-disposed mother. She has the bad -distinction of having been the last of the witnesses to declare a -"vision" against a suspected person; but, on the other hand, she has the -honor, such as it is, of having striven to humble herself before the -memory of her victims. When she was nineteen her father died, and her -mother followed within a fortnight, leaving the poor girl, in bad health -and with scanty means, to take care of a family of children so large -that there were eight, if not more, dependent on her. No doubt she was -aided, and she did what she could; but she died worn out at the age of -thirty-six. Ten years before that date she made her peace with the -Church and society by offering a public confession in the meeting-house. -In order to show what it was that the accusers did admit, we must make -room for Ann Putnam's confession: - -"'I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence -that befell my father's family in the year about '92; that I, then -being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made the -instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime, -whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just -grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that -it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time, -whereby I justly fear that I have been instrumental with others, though -ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon myself and this land the guilt -of innocent blood; though what was said or done by me against any person -I can truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not out of -any anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I had no such thing -against one of them; but what I did was ignorantly, being deluded by -Satan. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing -Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and -to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a -calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in -the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto -whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offense, whose relations were -taken away or accused. (Signed) Ann Putnam.' - -"This confession was read before the congregation, together with her -relation, August 25, 1706; and she acknowledged it. - - "J. GREEN, _Pastor_." (Vol. ii. p. 510.) - - -THE TRANSITION. - -The most agreeable picture ever afforded by this remarkable community is -that which our eyes rest on at the close of the story. One of the church -members had refused to help to send Mr. Parris away, on the ground that -the village had had four pastors, and had gone through worse strifes -with every one; but he saw a change of scene on the advent of the fifth. -The Rev. Joseph Green was precisely the man for the place and occasion. -He was young--only two-and-twenty--and full of hope and cheerfulness, -while sobered by the trials of the time. He had a wife and infants, and -some private property, so that he could at once plant down a happy -home among his people, without any injurious dependence on them. While -exemplary in clerical duty, he encouraged an opposite tone of mind to -that which had prevailed--put all the devils out of sight, promoted -pigeon-shooting and fishing, and headed the young men in looking after -hostile Indians. Instead of being jealous at the uprising of new -churches, he went to lay the foundations, and invited the new brethren -to his home. He promoted the claims of the sufferers impoverished by the -recent social convulsion; he desired to bury not only delusions, but -ill offices in silence; and by his hospitality he infused a cheerful -social spirit into his stricken people. The very business of "seating" -the congregation was so managed under his ministry as that members -of the sinning and suffering families--members not in too direct -an antagonism--were brought together for prayer, singing, and -Sabbath-greeting, forgiving and forgetting as far as possible. Thus did -this excellent pastor create a new scene of peace and good-will, which -grew brighter for eighteen years, when he died at the age of forty. At -the earliest moment that was prudent, he induced his church to cancel -the excommunication of Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey. It was ten years -more before the hard and haughty mother church in Salem would do its -part; but Mr. Green had the satisfaction of seeing that record also -cleansed of its foul stains three years before his death. Judge Sewall -had before made his penitential acknowledgment of proud error in full -assembly, and had resumed his seat on the bench amid the forgiveness and -respect of society; Chief Justice Stoughton had retired from the courts -in obstinate rage at his conflicts with Satan having been cut short; -the physicians hoped they should have no more patients "under the evil -hand," to make them look foolish and feel helpless; and the Tragedy was -over. There were doubtless secret tears and groans, horrors of shame and -remorse by night and by day, and indignant removal of the bones of the -murdered from outcast graves; and abstraction of painful pages from -books of record, and much stifling of any conversation which could grow -into tradition. The Tragedy was, no doubt, the central interest of -society, families, and individuals throughout the Province for the life -of one generation. Then, as silence had been kept in the homes as well -as at church and market, the next generation entered upon life almost -unconscious of the ghastly distinction which would attach in history to -Massachusetts in general, and Salem in particular, as the scene of the -Delusion and the Tragedy which showed the New World to be in essentials -no wiser than the Old. - -How effectually the story of that year 1692 was buried in silence is -shown by a remark of Mr. Upham's--that it has been too common for the -Witch Tragedy to be made a jest of, or at least to be spoken of with -levity. We can have no doubt that his labors have put an end to this. -It is inconceivable that there can ever again be a joke heard on the -subject of Witchcraft in Salem. But this remark of our author brings us -at once home to our own country, time, and experience. It suggests the -question whether the lesson afforded by this singular perfect piece of -history is more or less appropriate to our own day and generation. - - -THE FETISH THEORY THEN AND NOW. - -We have already observed that at the date of these events, the only -possible explanation of the phenomena presented was the fetish solution -which had in all ages been recurred to as a matter of course. In -heathen times it was god, goddess, or nymph who gave knowledge, or -power, or gifts of healing, or of prophecy, to men. In Christian times -it was angel, or devil, or spirit of the dead; and this conception was -in full force over all Christendom when the Puritan emigrants settled in -New England. The celebrated sermon of the Rev. Mr. Lawson, in the work -before us, discloses the elaborate doctrine held by the class of men who -were supposed to know best in regard to the powers given by Satan to his -agents, and the evils with which he afflicted his victims; and there -was not only no reason why the pastor's hearers should question his -interpretations, but no possibility that they should supply any of -a different kind. The accused themselves, while unable to admit or -conceive that they were themselves inspired by Satan, could propose no -explanation but that the acts were done by "some bad spirit." And such -has been the fetish tendency to this hour, through all the advance -that has been made in science, and in the arts of observation and -of reasoning. The fetish tendency--that of ascribing one's own -consciousness to external objects, as when the dog takes a watch to be -alive because it ticks, and when the savage thinks his god is angry -because it thunders, and when the Puritan catechumen cries out in -hysteria that Satan has set a witch to strangle her--that constant -tendency to explain everything by the facts, the feelings, and the -experience of the individual's own nature, is no nearer dying out -now than at the time of the Salem Tragedy; and hence, in part, the -seriousness and the instructiveness of this story to the present -generation. Ours is the generation which has seen the spread of -Spiritualism in Europe and America, a phenomenon which deprives us of -all right to treat the Salem Tragedy as a jest, or to adopt a tone of -superiority in compassion for the agents in that dismal drama. There are -hundreds, even several thousands, of lunatics in the asylums of the -United States, and not a few in our own country, who have been lodged -there by the pursuit of intercourse with spirits; in other words, by -ascribing to living but invisible external agents movements of their -own minds. Mr. Parris remarked, in 1692, that of old, witches were only -ignorant old women; whereas, in his day, they had come to be persons -of knowledge, holiness, and devotion who had been drawn into that -damnation; and in our day, we hear remarks on the superior refinement -of spirit-intercourses, in comparison with the witch doings at Salem; -but the cases are all essentially the same. In all, some peculiar and -inexplicable appearances occur, and are, as a matter of course, when -their reality can not be denied, ascribed to spiritual agency. We may -believe that we could never act as the citizens of Salem acted in their -superstition and their fear; and this may be true; but the course of -speculation is, in "spiritual circles," very much the same as in Mr. -Parris' parlor. - -And how much less excuse there is for our generation than for his! -We are very far yet from being able to explain the well-known and -indisputable facts which occur from time to time, in all countries where -men abide and can give an account of themselves; such facts as the -phenomena of natural somnambulism, of double consciousness, of suspended -sensation while consciousness is awake, and the converse--of a wide -range of intellectual and instinctive operations bearing the character -of marvels to such as can not wait for the solution. We are still far -from being able to explain such mysteries, in the only true sense of the -word _explaining_--that is, being able to refer the facts to the natural -cause to which they belong; but we have an incalculable advantage over -the people of former centuries in knowing that for all proved facts -there is a natural cause; that every cause to which proved facts within -our cognizance are related is destined to become known to us; and that, -in the present case, we have learned in what direction to search for it, -and have set out on the quest. None of us can offer even the remotest -conjecture as to what the law of the common action of what we call mind -and body may be. If we could, the discovery would have been already -made. But, instead of necessarily assuming, as the Salem people did, -that what they witnessed was the operation of spiritual upon human -beings, we have, as our field of observation and study, a region -undreamed of by them--the brain as an organized part of the human frame, -and the nervous system, implicating more facts, more secrets, and more -marvels than our forefathers attributed to the whole body. - - -THE VIEWS OF MODERN INVESTIGATORS. - -It is very striking to hear the modern lectures on physiological -subjects delivered in every capital in Europe, and to compare the calm -and easy manner in which the most astonishing and the most infernal -phenomena are described and discussed, with the horror and dismay that -the same facts would have created if disclosed by divines in churches -three centuries ago. Dr. Maudsley, in his recent work on "The -Physiology and Pathology of Mind," and other physicians occupied in his -line of practice, lead us through the lunatic asylums of every country, -pointing out as ordinary or extraordinary incidents the same -"afflictions" of children and other morbid persons which we read of, one -after another, in the Salem story. It is a matter of course with such -practitioners and authors to anticipate such phenomena when they have -detected the morbid conditions which generate them. Mr. Upham himself -is evidently very far indeed from understanding or suspecting how much -light is thrown on the darkest part of his subject by physiological -researches carried on to the hour when he laid down his pen. His view -is confined almost exclusively to the theory of fraud and falsehood, as -affording the true key. It is not probable that anybody disputes or -doubts the existence of guilt and folly in many or all of the agents -concerned. There was an antecedent probability of both in regard to -Mr. Parris' slaves, and to such of the young children as they most -influenced; and that kind of infection is apt to spread. Moreover, -experience shows us that the special excitement of that nervous -condition induces moral vagaries at least as powerfully as mental -delusions. In the state of temper existing among the inhabitants of the -Village when the mischievous club of girls was formed at the pastor's -house, it was inevitable that, if magic was entered upon at all, it -would be malignant magic. Whatever Mr. Upham has said in illustration of -that aspect of the case his readers will readily agree to. But there is -a good deal more, even of the imperfect notices that remain after the -abstraction and destruction of the records in the shame and anguish that -ensued, which we, in our new dawn of science, can perceive to be an -affair of the bodily organization. We are, therefore, obliged to him for -rescuing this tremendous chapter of history from oblivion, and for the -security in which he has placed the materials of evidence. In another -generation the science of the human frame may have advanced far enough -to elucidate some of the Salem mysteries, together with some obscure -facts in all countries, which can not be denied, while as yet they can -not be understood. When that time comes, a fearful weight of imputation -will be removed from the name and fame of many agents and sufferers who -have been the subjects of strange maladies and strange faculties, in all -times and countries. As we are now taught the new discoveries of the -several nerve-centers, and the powers which are appropriated to them; -and when we observe what a severance may exist between the so-called -organ of any sense or faculty and the operation of the sense or faculty; -and how infallibly ideas and emotion may be generated, and even beliefs -created in minds sane and insane, by certain manipulations of the nerves -and brain, we see how innocently this phenomenon may be presented in -natural somnambulism. Sleepwalkers have been known in many countries, -and treated of in medical records by their physicians, who could not -only walk, and perform all ordinary acts in the dark as well as in the -light, but who went on writing or reading without interruption though an -opaque substance--a book or a slate--was interposed, and would dot the -_i's_ and cross the _t's_ with unconscious correctness without any use -of their eyes. There is a wide field of inquiry open in this direction, -now that the study of the nervous system has been begun, however minute -is the advance as yet. - - -IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT. - -It is needless to dwell on the objection made to the rising hopefulness -in regard to the study of Man, and the mysteries of his nature. Between -the multitude who have still no notion of any alternative supposition to -that of possession or inspiration by spirits, or, at least, intercourse -with such beings, and others who fear "Materialism" if too close an -attention is paid to the interaction of the mind and the nerves, and -those who always shrink from new notions in matters so interesting, and -those who fear that religion may be implicated in any slight shown to -angel or devil, and those who will not see or hear any evidence whatever -which lies in a direction opposite to their prejudices, we are not -likely to get on too fast. But neither can the injury lapse under -neglect. The spectacle presented now is of the same three sorts of -people that appear in all satires, in all literatures, since the pursuit -of truth in any mode or direction became a recognized object anywhere -and under any conditions. Leaving out of view the multitude who are -irrelevant to the case, from having no knowledge, and being therefore -incapable of an opinion, there is the large company of the superficial -and light-minded, who are always injuring the honor and beauty of truth -by the levity, the impertinence, the absurdity of the enthusiasm they -pretend, and the nonsense they talk about "some new thing." No period of -society has been more familiar with that class and its mischief-making -than our own. There is the other large class of the cotemporaries of any -discovery or special advance, who, when they can absent themselves from -the scene no longer, look and listen, and bend all their efforts to -hold their ground of life-long opinion, usually succeeding so far as to -escape any direct admission that more is known than when they were born. -These are no ultimate hindrance. When Harvey died, no physician in -Europe above the age of forty believed in the circulation of the blood; -but the truth was perfectly safe; and so it will be with the case of the -psychological relations of the nervous system when the present course of -investigation has sustained a clearer verification and further advance. -On this point we have the sayings of two truth-seekers, wise in quality -of intellect, impartial and dispassionate in temper, and fearless in the -pursuit of their aims. The late Prince Consort is vividly remembered for -the characteristic saying which spread rapidly over the country, that he -could not understand the conduct of the medical profession in England -in leaving the phenomena of mesmerism to the observation of unqualified -persons, instead of undertaking an inquiry which was certainly their -proper business, in proportion as they professed to pursue _science_. -The other authority we refer to is the late Mr. Hallam. A letter of his -lies before us from which we quote a passage, familiar in its substance, -doubtless, to his personal friends, to whom he always avowed the view -which it presents, and well worthy of note to such readers as may not -be aware of the observation and thought he devoted to the phenomena of -mesmerism during the last quarter-century of his long life. "It appears -to me probable that the various phenomena of mesmerism, together with -others, independent of mesmerism properly so called, which have lately -[the date is 1844] been brought to light, are fragments of some general -law of nature which we are not yet able to deduce from them, merely -because they are destitute of visible connection--the links being -hitherto wanting which are to display the entire harmony of effects -proceeding from a single cause." - -[Persons curious to know what has been developed in this class of -studies may find the same in a work published at this office, entitled -THE LIBRARY OF MESMERISM AND PSYCHOLOGY--comprising the Philosophy of -Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, and Mental Electricity; Fascination, or the -Power of Charming; The Macrocosm, or the World of Sense; Electrical -Psychology, or the Doctrine of Impressions; The Science of the Soul, -treated Physiologically and Philosophically. Complete in one illustrated -volume. Price, $4.] - -What room is there not for hopefulness when we compare such an -observation as this with Mr. Parris' dogmatical exposition of Satan's -dealings with men! or when we contrast the calm and cheerful tone of the -philosopher with the stubborn wrath of Chief Justice Stoughton, and with -the penitential laments of Judge Sewall! We might contrast it also with -the wild exultation of those of the Spiritualists of our own day who can -form no conception of the modesty and patience requisite for the sincere -search for truth, and who, once finding themselves surrounded by facts -and appearances new and strange, assume that they have discovered a -bridge over the bottomless "gulf beyond which lies the spirit-land," and -wander henceforth in a fools' paradise, despising and pitying all who -are less rash, ignorant, and presumptuous than themselves. It is this -company of fanatics--the first of the three classes we spoke of--which -is partly answerable for the backwardness of the second; but the blame -does not rest exclusively in one quarter. There is an indolence in the -medical class which is the commonest reproach against them in every age -of scientific activity, and which has recently been heroically avowed -and denounced in a public address by no less a member of the profession -than Sir Thomas Watson.[1] There is a conservative reluctance to change -of view or of procedure. There is also a lack of moral courage, by no -means surprising in an order of men whose lives are spent in charming -away troubles, and easing pains and cares, and "making things -pleasant"--by no means surprising, we admit, but exceedingly unfavorable -to the acknowledgment of phenomena that are strange and facts that are -unintelligible. - - [1] Address on the Present State of Therapeutics. Delivered at - the opening meeting of the Clinical Society of London, January - 10, 1868. By Sir Thomas Watson, Bart., M.D. - -This brings us to the third class--the very small number of persons who -are, in the matter of human progress, the salt of the earth; the few who -can endure to see without understanding, to hear without immediately -believing or disbelieving, to learn what they can, without any -consideration of what figure they themselves shall make in the -transaction; and even to be unable to reconcile the new phenomena with -their own prior experience or conceptions. There is no need to describe -how rare this class must necessarily be, for every one who has eyes sees -how near the passions and the prejudices of the human being lie to each -other. These are the few who unite the two great virtues of earnestly -studying the facts, and keeping their temper, composure and cheerfulness -through whatever perplexity their inquiry may involve. It is remarkable -that while the world is echoing all round and incessantly with the -praise of the life of the man spent in following truth wherever it may -lead, the world is always resounding also with the angry passions of men -who resent all opinions which are not their own, and denounce with fury -or with malice any countenance given to mere proposals to inquire in -certain directions which they think proper to reprobate. Not only was it -horrible blasphemy in Galileo to think as he did of the motion of the -earth, but in his friends to look through his glass at the stars. - -This Salem story is indeed shocking in every view--to our pride as -rational beings, to our sympathy as human beings, to our faith as -Christians, to our complacency as children of the Reformation. It is so -shocking that some of us may regret that the details have been revived -with such an abundance of evidence. But this is no matter of regret, but -rather of congratulation, if we have not outgrown the need of admonition -from the past. How does that consideration stand? - -At the end of nearly three centuries we find ourselves relieved of a -heavy burden of fear and care about the perpetual and unbounded malice -of Satan and his agents. Witchcraft has ceased to be one of the gravest -curses of the human lot. We have parted with one after another of the -fetish or conjectural persuasions about our relations with the world of -spirit or mind, regarded as in direct opposition to the world of matter. -By a succession of discoveries we have been led to an essentially -different view of life and thought from any dreamed of before the new -birth of science; and at this day, and in our own metropolis, we have -Sir Henry Holland telling us how certain treatment of this or that -department of the nervous system will generate this or that state of -belief and experience, as well as sensation. We have Dr. Carpenter -disclosing facts of incalculable significance about brain-action without -consciousness, and other vital mysteries. We have Dr. Maudsley showing, -in the cells of the lunatic asylum, not only the very realm of Satan, as -our fathers would have thought, but the discovery that it is not Satan, -after all, that makes the havoc, but our own ignorance which has seduced -us into a blasphemous superstition, instead of inciting us to the study -of ourselves. And these are not all our teachers. Amid the conflict -of phenomena of the human mind and body, we have arrived now at the -express controversy of Psychology against Physiology. Beyond the mere -statement of the fact we have scarcely advanced a step. The first can -not be, with any accuracy, called a science at all, and the other is in -little more than a rudimentary state; but it is no small gain to have -arrived at some conception of the nature of the problem set before us, -and at some liberty of hypothesis as to its conditions. In brief, and -in the plainest terms, while there is still a multitude deluding and -disporting itself with a false hypothesis about certain mysteries of the -human mind, and claiming to have explained the marvels of Spiritualism -by making an objective world of their own subjective experience, the -scientific physiologists [those especially who are true phrenologists] -are proceeding, by observation and experiment, to penetrate more and -more secrets of our intellectual and moral life. - - - - -THE PLANCHETTE MYSTERY. - - -WHAT PLANCHETTE IS AND DOES. - -This little gyrating tripod is proving itself to be something more than -a nine days' wonder. It is finding its way into thousands of families in -all parts of the land. Lawyers, physicians, politicians, philosophers, -and even clergymen, have watched eagerly its strange antics, and -listened with rapt attention to its mystic oracles. Mrs. Jones demands -of it where Jones spends his evenings; the inquisitive of both sexes are -soliciting it to "tell their fortunes;" speculators are invoking its aid -in making sharp bargains, and it is said that even sagacious brokers in -Wall Street are often found listening to its vaticinations as to the -price of stocks on a given future day. To all kinds of inquiries answers -are given, intelligible at least, if not always true. A wonderful jumble -of mental and moral possibilities is this little piece of dead matter, -now giving utterance to childish drivel, now bandying jokes and -badinage, now stirring the conscience by unexceptionably Christian -admonitions, and now uttering the baldest infidelity or the most -shocking profanity; and often discoursing gravely on science, -philosophy, or theology. It is true that Planchette seldom assumes this -variety of theme and diction under the hands of the same individual, -but, in general, manifests a peculiar facility of adapting its discourse -to the character of its associates. Reader, with your sanction, we will -seek a little further acquaintance with this new wonder. - -[Illustration: THE PLANCHETTE.] - -The word "Planchette" is French, and simply signifies a _little board_. -It is usually made in the shape of a heart, about seven inches long and -six inches wide at the widest part, but we suppose that any other shape -and convenient size would answer as well. Under the two corners of the -widest end are fixed two little castors or pantograph wheels, admitting -of easy motion in all horizontal directions; and in a hole, pierced -through the narrow end, is fixed, upright, a lead pencil, which forms -the third foot of the tripod. If this little instrument be placed upon a -sheet of printing paper, and the fingers of one or more persons be laid -lightly upon it, after quietly waiting a short time for the connection -or _rapport_ to become established, the board, if conditions are -favorable, will begin to move, carrying the fingers with it. It will -move for about one person in every three or four; and sometimes it will -move with the hands of two or three persons in contact with it, when it -will not move for either one of the persons singly. At the first trial, -from a few seconds to twenty minutes may be required to establish the -motion; but at subsequent trials it will move almost immediately. The -first movements are usually indefinite or in circles but as soon as some -control of the motion is established, it will begin to write--at first, -perhaps, in mere monosyllables, "Yes," and "No," in answer to leading -questions, but afterward freely writing whole sentences, and even pages. - -For me alone, the instrument will not move; for myself and wife it moves -slightly, but its writing is mostly in monosyllables. With my daughter's -hands upon it, it writes more freely, frequently giving, correctly, the -names of persons present whom she may not know, and also the names -of their friends, living or dead, with other and similar tests. Its -conversations with her are grave or gay, much according to the state -of her own mind at the time; and when frivolous questions are asked, -it almost always returns answers either frivolous or, I am sorry to -say it, a trifle wicked. For example, she on one occasion said to it: -"Planchette, where did you get your education?" To her horror, it -instantly wrote: "In h--l," without, however, being so fastidious as to -omit the letters of the word here left out. On another occasion, after -receiving from it responses to some trival questions, she said to -it: "Planchette, now write something of your own accord without our -prompting." But instead of writing words and sentences as was expected, -it immediately traced out the rude figure of a man, such as school -children sometimes make upon their slates. After finishing the -outlines--face, neck, arms, legs, etc., it swung around and brought -the point of the pencil to the proper position for the eye, which it -carefully marked in, and then proceeded to pencil out the hair. On -finishing this operation, it wrote under the figure the name of a young -man concerning whom my daughter's companions are in the habit of teasing -her. - -My wife once said to it: "Planchette, write the name of the article I am -thinking of." She was thinking of a finger ring, on which her eye had -rested a moment before. The operator, of course, knew nothing of this, -and my wife expected either that the experiment would fail, or else that -the letters R-i-n-g would be traced. But instead of that, the instrument -moved, very slowly, and, as it were, deliberately, and traced an -apparently _exact circle_ on the paper, of about the size of the finger -ring she had in her mind. "Will you try that over again?" said she, when -a similar circle was traced, in a similar manner, but more promptly. -During this experiment, one of my wife's hands, in addition to my -daughter's, was resting lightly upon the board; but if the moving force -had been supplied by her, either consciously or unconsciously, the -motion would evidently have taken the direction of her thought, which -was that of writing the letters of the word, instead of a direction -unthought of. - -While Planchette, in her intercourse with me, has failed to distinguish -herself either as a preacher or a philosopher, I regret to say that she -has not proved herself a much more successful prophet. While the recent -contest for the United States Senatorship from the State of New York was -pending, I said to my little oracular friend: "Planchette, will you give -me a test?" "Yes." "Do you know who will be the next U. S. Senator from -this State?" "Yes." "Please write the name of the person who will be -chosen." "_Mr. Sutton_," was written. Said I, "I have not the pleasure -of knowing that gentleman; please tell me where he resides." _Ans._ "In -Washington." - -I do not relate this to disturb the happy dreams of the Hon. Reuben E. -Fenton by suggesting any dire contingencies that may yet happen to mar -the prospect before him. In justice to my little friend, however, I must -not omit to state that in respect to questions as to the kind of weather -we shall have on the morrow? will such person go, or such a one come? or -shall I see, or do this, that, or the other thing? its responses have -been generally correct. - -To rush to a conclusion respecting the _rationale_ of so mysterious a -phenomenon, under the sole guidance of an experience which has been so -limited as my own, would betray an amount of egoism and heedlessness -with which I am unwilling to be chargeable; and my readers will now be -introduced to some experiences of others. - -A friend of mine, Mr. C., residing in Jersey City, with whom I have -almost daily intercourse, and whose testimony is entirely trustworthy, -relates the following: - -Some five or six months ago he purchased a Planchette, brought it home, -and placed it in the hands of Mrs. B., a widow, who was then visiting -his family. Mrs. B. had never tried or witnessed any experiments with -Planchette, and was incredulous as to her power to evoke any movements -from it. She, however, placed her hands upon it, as directed, and to her -surprise it soon began to move, and wrote for its first words: "Take -care!" "Of what must I take care?" she inquired. "Of your money." -"Where?" "In Kentucky." - -My friend states that Mrs. B.'s husband had died in Albany about two -years previous, bequeathing to her ten thousand dollars, which sum she -had loaned to a gentleman in Louisville, Ky., to invest in the drug -business, on condition that she and he were to share the profits; and up -to this time the thought had not occurred to her that her money was not -perfectly safe. At this point she inquired: "Who is this that is giving -this caution?" "B---- W----." (The name of a friend of hers who had died -at Cairo, Ill., some six years before.) Mrs. B. "Why! is my money in -jeopardy?" Planchette. "Yes, and needs prompt attention." My friend C. -here asked: "Ought she to go to Kentucky and attend to the matter?" -"Yes." - -So strange and unexpected was this whole communication, and so -independent of the suggestions of her own mind, that she was not a -little impressed by it, and thought it would at least be safe for her -to make a journey to Louisville and ascertain if the facts were as -represented. But she had at the time no ready money to pay her traveling -expenses, and not knowing how she could get the money, she asked: "When -shall I be able to go?" "In two weeks from to-day," was the reply. - -She thought over the matter, and the next day applied to a friend of -hers, a Mr. W., in Nassau Street, who promised to lend her the money by -the next Tuesday or Wednesday. (It was on Thursday that the interview -with Planchette occurred.) She came home and remarked to my friend: -"Well, Planchette has told one lie, anyhow; it said I would start for -Louisville _two weeks_ from that day. Mr. W. is going to lend me the -money, and I shall start by _next_ Thursday, only _one_ week from that -time." - -But on the next Tuesday morning she received a note from Mr. W. -expressing regret that circumstances had occurred which would render it -impossible for him to let her have the money. She immediately sought, -and soon found, another person by whom she was promised the money still -in time to enable her to start a couple of days before the expiration of -the two weeks--thus still, as she supposed, enabling her to prove -Planchette to be wrong in at least that particular. But from -circumstances unnecessary to detail, the money did not come until -Wednesday, the day before the expiration of the two weeks. She then -prepared herself to start the next _morning_; but through a blunder -of the expressman in carrying her trunk to the wrong depot, she was -detained till the five o'clock P.M. train, when she started, just two -weeks, _to the hour_, from the time the prediction was given. - -Arriving in Louisville, she learned that her friend had become involved -in consequence of having made a number of bad sales for large amounts, -and had actually gone into bankruptcy--reserving, however, for the -security of her debt, a number of lots of ground, which his creditors -were trying to get hold of. She thus arrived not a moment too soon to -save herself, which she will probably do, in good part, at least, if not -wholly--though the affair is still unsettled. - -Since this article was commenced, the following fact has been furnished -me from a reliable source. It is offered not only for the test which it -involves, but also to illustrate the remarkable faculty which Planchette -sometimes manifests, of calling things by their right names. A lady -well known to the community, but whose name I have not permission to -disclose, recently received from Planchette, writing under her own -hands, a communication so remarkable that she was induced to ask for the -name of the intelligence that wrote it. In answer to her request, the -name of the late Col. Baker, who gallantly fell at Ball's Bluff, was -given, in a perfect _fac-simile_ of his handwriting. She said to him: -"For a further test, will you be kind enough to tell me where I last saw -you?" She expected him to mention the place and occasion of their last -interview when she had invited him to her house to tea; but Planchette -wrote: "_In the hall of thieves_." "In the hall of thieves," said the -lady; "what on earth can be the meaning of that? O! I remember that -after he was killed, his body was brought on here and laid in the City -Hall, and there I saw him." - - -THE PRESS ON PLANCHETTE. - -In Planchette, public journalists and pamphleteers seem to have caught -the "What is it?" in a new shape, and great has been the expenditure of -printer's ink in the way of narratives, queries, and speculations upon -the subject. There are now lying before me the following publications -and articles, in which the Planchette phenomena are noticed and -discussed,--from which we propose to cull and condense such statements -of fact as appear to possess most intrinsic interest, and promise most -aid in the solution of the mysteries. Afterward we shall discuss the -different theories of these writers, and also some other theories that -have been propounded. - -"PLANCHETTE'S DIARY," edited by Kate Field, is an entertaining pamphlet, -consisting of details in the author's experience, with little or no -speculation as to the origin or laws of the phenomena. The author -herself was the principal medium of the communications, but she -occasionally introduces experiences of others. The pamphlet serves to -put one on familiar and companionable terms with the invisible source -of intelligence, whatever that may be, illustrating the leading -peculiarities of the phenomena, giving some tests of an outside -directing influence more or less striking, and candidly recording the -failures of test answers which were mixed up with the successes. We -extract two or three specimens: - - "May 26th--Evening. Our trio was reinforced by Mr. B., a clever - young lawyer, who regarded Planchette with no favorable eye--had no - faith whatever in 'Spiritualism,' and maintained that for his part - he thought it quite as sensible, if not more so, to attribute - unknown phenomena to white rabbits as to spirits.... Planchette - addressed herself to Mr. B. thus: - - 'You do not think that I am a spirit. I tell you that I am. If I am - not an intelligence, in the name of common sense what am I? If you - fancy I am white rabbits, then all I have to say is, that white - rabbits are a deal cleverer than they have the credit of being among - natural historians.' - - Later, doubt was thrown upon the possibility of getting mental - questions answered, and Planchette retorted: - - 'Do you fancy for one moment that I don't know the workings of your - brain? That is not the difficulty. It is the - impossibility--almost--of making two diametrically opposed - magnetisms unite.' - - After this rebuke, Mr. B. asked a mental question, and received the - following answer: - - 'I am impelled to say that if you will persevere in these - investigations, you may be placed _en rapport_ with your wife, who - would undoubtedly communicate with you. If you have any faith in the - immortality of the soul, you can have no doubt of the possibility of - spiritual influences being brought to bear upon mortals. It is no - new thing. Ever since the world began, this power has been exerted - in one way or another; and if you pretend to put any faith in the - Bible, you surely must credit the possibility of establishing this - subtile connection between man and so-called angels.' - - This communication was glibly written until within eleven words of - the conclusion, when Planchette stopped, and I asked if she had - finished. - - 'No,' she replied. - - 'Then why don't you go on?' I continued. '_I_ can write faster than - this.' - - Planchette grew exceeding wroth at this, and dashed off an answer: - - 'Because, my good gracious! you are not obliged to express yourself - through another's brain.' - - I took it for granted that Planchette had shot very wide of the mark - in the supposed response to Mr. B.'s mental query, and hence was not - prepared to be told that it was satisfactory, in proof of which Mr. - B. wrote beneath it: - - 'Appropriate answer to my mental question, _Will my deceased wife - communicate with me?_--I. A. B.'" - - "May 28th. At the breakfast-table Mr. G. expressed a great desire to - see Planchette perform, and she was brought from her box. Miss W. - was also present. After several communications, Miss W. asked a - mental question, and Planchette immediately wrote: - - 'Miss W., that is hardly possible in the present state of the money - market; but later, I dare say you will accomplish what you desire to - undertake.' - - _Miss W._ 'Planchette is entirely off the track. My question was, - _Can you tell me anything about my nephew?_' - - _Mr. G._ 'Well, it is certainly very queer. _I_ asked a mental - question to which this is to a certain extent an answer.' - - Mr. G. was seated beside me, thoroughly intent upon Planchette. Miss - W. was at a distance, and not in any way _en rapport_ with me. If - this phenomenon of answering mental questions be clairvoyance, the - situation of these two persons may account for the mixed nature of - the answer, beginning with Miss W. and finishing with Mr. G." - -_Putnam's Monthly Magazine_ for December, 1868, contains an interesting -article entitled "_Planchette in a New Character_." What the "new -character" is in which it appears, may be learned from the introductory -paragraph, as follows: - - "We, too, have a Planchette, and a Planchette with this signal - merit: it disclaims all pretensions to supermundane inspirations; it - operates freely--indeed, with extraordinary freedom; it goes at the - tap of the drum. The first touch of the operators, no matter under - what circumstances it is brought out to reveal its knowledge, sets - it in motion. But it brings no communications from any celestial or - spiritual sources. Its chirography is generally good, and frequently - excellent. Its remarks evince an intelligence often above that of - the operators, and its talent at answering or evading difficult - questions is admirable. We have no theories about it." - -It seems, from other passages in the article, that this Planchette -disclaims the ability to tell anything that is not contained in the -minds of the persons present, although it frequently gives theories in -direct contradiction to the opinions of all present, and argues them -with great persistence until driven up into a corner. It simply assumes -the name of "Planchet," leaving off the feminine termination of the -word; and "on being remonstrated with for illiteracy, it defended itself -by saying, 'I always was a bad _speler_,'--an orthographical blunder," -says the writer, "that no one in the room was capable of making." - -Although the writer in the paragraph above quoted disclaims all theories -on the subject, he does propound a theory, such as it is; but of this -we defer our notice until we come to put the several theories that have -been offered into the hopper and grind them up together; at which time -we will take some further notice of the amusing peculiarities of this -writer's Planchette. - -The _Ladies' Repository_ of November, 1868, contains an article, written -by Rev. A. D. Field, entitled "Planchette; or, Spirit-Rapping Made -Easy." This writer mentions a number of test questions asked by him of -Planchette, the answers to which were all false. Yet he acknowledges -that "the mysterious little creature called Planchette is no humbug; -that some mysterious will-power causes it to answer questions, and that -it is useless to ignore these things, or to laugh at them." The writer -submits a theory by which he thinks these mysteries may be explained, in -a measure, if not wholly, but this, with others, will be reserved for -notice hereafter. - -_Harper's Monthly Magazine_ for December, 1868, contains an article -entitled "_The Confessions of a Reformed Planchettist_." In this -article, the writer, no doubt drawing wholly or in part from his -imagination, details a series of tricks which he had successfully -practiced upon the credulity of others, and concludes by propounding -a very sage and charitable theory to account for _all_ Planchette -phenomena, on which theory we shall yet have a word to offer. - -_Hours at Home_, of February, 1869, contains an article, by J. T. -Headley, entitled "_Planchette at the Confessional_." In this article, -the writer cogently argues the claims of these new phenomena upon the -attention of scientific men. He says: "That it [the Planchette] writes -things never dreamed of by the operators, is proved by their own -testimony and the testimony of others, beyond all contradiction;" and -goes so far as to assert that to whatever cause these phenomena may be -attributed, "they will seriously affect the whole science of mental -philosophy." He relates a number of facts, more or less striking, and -propounds a theory in their explanation, to which, with others, we will -recur by-and-by. - -The foregoing are a few of the most noted, among the many less -important, lucubrations that have fallen under our notice concerning -this interesting subject--enough, however, to indicate the intense -public interest which the performances of this little board are -exciting. We will now proceed to notice some of the _theories_ that -have been advanced for the solution of the mystery. - - -THEORY FIRST--THAT THE BOARD IS MOVED BY THE HANDS THAT REST UPON IT. - -It is supposed that this movement is made either by design or -unconsciously, and that the answers are either the result of adroit -guessing, or the expressions of some appropriate thoughts or memories -which had been previously slumbering in the minds of the operators, and -happen to be awakened at the moment. - -After detailing his exploits (whether real or imaginary he has left us -in doubt) in a successful and sustained course of deception, the writer -in _Harper's_ reaches this startling conclusion of the whole matter: - - "It would only write when I moved it, and then it wrote precisely - what I dictated. That persons write 'unconsciously,' I do not - believe. As well tell me a man might pick pockets without knowing - it. Nor am I at all prepared to believe the assertions of those who - declare that they do not move the board. I know what operators will - do in such cases; I know the distortion, the disregard of truth - which association with this immoral board superinduces." - -This writer has somewhat the advantage of me. I confess I have no means -of coming to the knowledge of the truth but those of careful thought, -patient observation, and collection of facts, and deduction from them. -But here is a mind that can with one bold dive reach the inner mysteries -of the sensible and supersensible world, penetrate the motives and -impulses that govern the specific moral acts of men, and disclose -at once to us the horrible secret of a conspiracy which, without -preconcert, has been entered into by thousands of men, women, and -children in all parts of the land, to cheat the rest of the human -race--a conspiracy, too, in which certain members of innumerable private -families have banded together to play tricks upon their fathers, -mothers, brothers, and sisters! I feel awed by the overshadowing -presence of such a mind--in fact, I do not feel quite _at home_ with -him, and therefore most respectfully bow myself out of his presence -without further ceremony. - -As to the hypothesis that the person or persons whose hands are on the -board move it _unconsciously_, this is met by the fact that the persons -are perfectly awake and in their senses, and are just as conscious of -what they are doing or not doing as at any other time. Or if it be -morally possible to suppose that they all, invariably, and with one -accord, _lie_ when they assert that the board moves without their -volition, how is it that the answers which they give to questions, some -of them mentally, are in so large a proportion of cases, _appropriate_ -answers? How is it, for example, that Planchette, under the hands of -my own daughter, has, in numerous cases, given correctly the names of -persons whom she had never seen or heard of before, giving also the -names of their absent relatives, the places of their residence, etc., -all of which were absolutely unknown by every person present except the -questioner? - -A theory propounded by the Rev. Dr. Patton, of Chicago, in an article -published in _The Advance_, some time since, may be noticed under this -head. He says: - - "How, then, shall we account for the writing which is performed - without any direct volition? Our method refers it to an automatic - power of mind separate from conscious volition. * * * Very common - is the experience of an automatic power in the pen, by which it - finishes a word, or two or three words, after the thoughts have - consciously gone on to what is to follow. We infer, then, from - ordinary facts known to the habitual penman, that _if a fixed idea - is in the mind_ at the time when the nervous and volitional powers - are exercised with a pen, it will often express itself spontaneously - through the pen, when the mental faculties are at work otherwise. We - suppose, then, that Planchette is simply an arrangement by which, - through the outstretched arms and fingers, the mind comes into - such relation with the delicate movements of the pencil, that its - automatic power finds play, and the _ideas present in the mind are - transferred unconsciously to paper_." (Italics our own.) - -That may all be, Doctor, and no marvel about it. That the "fixed -idea"--"the ideas _present in the mind_," should be "transferred -unconsciously to paper," by means of Planchette, is no more wonderful -than that the same thing should be done by the pen, and _without_ the -intervention of that little board. But for the benefit of a sorely -mystified world, be good enough to tell us how ideas that are _not_ -present, and that _never were_ present, in the mind, can be transferred -to paper by this automatic power of the mind. Grant that the mind -possesses an automatic power to work in _grooves_, as it were, or in -a manner in which it has been previously _trained_ to work, as is -illustrated by the delicate fingerings of the piano, all correct and -skillful to the nicest shade, while the mind of the performer may for -the moment be occupied in conversation; but not since the world began -has there been an instance in which the mind, acting solely from itself, -by "automatic powers" or otherwise, has been able to body forth any idea -which was not previously within itself. That Planchette does sometimes -write things of which the person or persons under whose hands it moves -never had the slightest knowledge or even conception, it would be -useless to deny. - - -THEORY SECOND--IT IS ELECTRICITY, OR MAGNETISM. - -That electricity, or magnetism (a form of the same thing), is the agent -of the production of these phenomena, is a theory which, perhaps, has -more advocates among the masses than any other. It is the theory urged -by Mr. Headley with a great amount of confidence in his article already -referred to; and with his arguments, as those of an able and, in some -sense, _representative_ writer on this subject, we shall be principally -occupied for a few paragraphs. - -When this theory is offered in seriousness as a final solution of the -mystery in question, we are tempted to ask, Who is electricity? what -is his mental and moral _status_? and how and where did he get his -education? Or if by "electricity" is here simply meant the subtile, -imponderable, and _impersonal_ fluid commonly known by that name, -then let us ask, Who is at the other end of the wire?--for there must -evidently be a _who_ as well as a _what_ in the case. But when the -advocates of the electrical theory are brought to their strict -definitions, they are compelled to admit that this agent is nothing more -than a medium of the power and intelligence that are manifested. Now -a medium, which signifies simply a _middle_, distinctly implies two -opposite ends or extremes, and as applied in this case, one of those -ends or extremes must be the source, and the other the recipient of the -power or influence that is transmitted through the medium or middle; and -it is an axiom of common sense that no medium can be a perfect medium -which has anything to do with the origination or qualification of that -which is intended simply to flow through it, or which is not absolutely -free from action except as it is acted upon. That there are so-called -mediums which refract, pervert, falsify, or totally obliterate the -characteristics of that which was intended to be transmitted through -them, is not to be denied; but these are by no means perfect or reliable -mediums, either in physical or psychic matters. - -If the little instrument in question, therefore, is, through the medium -of electricity or any other agency, brought under perfect control and -then driven to write a communication, the force that drives and the -intelligence that directs it can not be attributed to the medium itself, -but to something behind and beyond it which must embrace _in itself_ all -the active powers and qualifications to produce the effect. Now let us -see where Mr. Headley gets the active powers and qualifications to -produce the phenomena manifested by his Planchette. He shall speak for -himself: - - "That a spirit, good or bad, has anything to do with this piece - of board and the tips of children's fingers, is too absurd a - supposition to be entertained for a moment. We are driven, - therefore, to the conclusion that what is written (by honest - operators) has its origin either in the minds of those whose hands - are on the instrument, or else it results from communication with - other minds through another channel than the outward senses. At all - events, on this hypothesis I have been able to explain most of the - phenomena I have witnessed. I had, with others, laughed at the - stories told about Planchette, when a lady visiting my family from - the city brought, as the latest novelty, one for my daughter. - Experiments were of course made with it, with very little success, - till a young lady came to visit us from the West, whose efforts - with those of my son wrought a marvelous change. She was modest and - retiring, with a rich brown complexion, large swimming eyes, dark as - midnight, and a dreamy expression of countenance, and altogether a - temperament that is usually found to possess great magnetic power. - My son, on the contrary, is fair, full of animal life, and enjoying - everything with the keenest relish. In short, they were as opposite - in all respects as two beings could well be. As the phenomena - produced by electricity are well known to arise from opposite poles, - or differently charged bodies, they would naturally be adapted to - the trial of Planchette." - -Mr. H. now finds the mysterious agency, "electricity," completely -unchained, and under the hands of this couple Planchette becomes "very -active." Indifferent to its performances at first, he was induced to -give it more serious attention by the correct answers given to a couple -of questions asked in a joking manner by his wife, concerning some love -affairs of his before they were married, and which were known to none -present except himself and wife. Of course these answers, being in -his wife's mind when she asked the question, were supposed to be -"communicated through the agency of electricity or magnetism to the -two operators," and the mystery was thus summarily disposed of. But an -interest being thus for the first time aroused in Mr. H.'s mind, he -proceeds to inquire a little further into the peculiarities of this new -phenomenon, and proceeds as follows: - - "Seeing that Planchette was so familiarly acquainted with my lady - friends, I asked it point blank: 'Where is Mary C----?' This was a - friend of my early youth and later manhood, who had always seemed - to me rather a relative than an acquaintance. To my surprise it - answered, 'Nobody knows.' - - I supposed I knew, because for twenty years she had lived on the - Hudson River in summer, and in New York in the winter. - - 'Is she happy?' I asked. 'Better be dead,' was the reply. - - 'Why?' 'Unhappy' was written out at once. - - 'What makes her unhappy?' 'Won't tell.' - - 'Is she in fault, or others?' 'Partly herself.' - - I now pushed questions in all shapes, but they were evaded. At last - I asked, 'How many brothers has she?' - - 'One,' was the response. 'That,' said I, 'is false;' but not having - heard from the family for several years, I asked again, 'How many - _did_ she have?' '_Three._' 'Where are the other two?' I continued. - 'Dead.' - - 'What is the name of the living one?' 'John.' I could not recollect - that either of them bore this name, but afterward remembered it was - that of the eldest. Now I had no means of ascertaining whether this - was all true, but convinced it was not, I began to ask ridiculous - and vexatious questions, when the answers showed excessive - irritation, and finally it wrote '_Devil_.' I then said: 'Who are - you?' 'Brother of the Devil.' - - 'What is your occupation?' 'Tending fires.' - - 'What are you going to do with me?' 'Broil you.' - - 'What for?' 'Wicked.' - - Now while I was excessively amused at all this, I noticed that the - two young operators were greatly agitated, and begged me to stop. - I saw at a glance that the very superstitious feeling that I - was endeavoring to ridicule away, was creeping over them, and I - desisted.... Another day I asked where a certain gentleman was who - failed years ago, taking in his fall a considerable amount of my own - funds. I said 'Where is Mr. Green?' 'In Brazil.' - - 'Will he ever pay me anything?' 'Yes.' - - 'When?' 'Next year.' - - 'How much.' 'Ten thousand dollars.' - - Neither of the operators knew anything about this affair, and the - answer, 'Brazil,' was so out of the way and unexpected, that all - were surprised. Whether the man was there or not, I could not tell, - nor did I know if he ever had been there--indeed, the last time I - heard from him he was in New York." - -Now, observing that no conscious or intelligent agency in shaping these -answers is assigned to the young persons whose hands were upon the -board, and who, it appears, did not know anything of the persons -concerning whom the inquiries were made, it would, perhaps, as we desire -nothing but a true philosophy on this matter, be worth while to look a -little critically at the answers and statements that were given, and the -further explanations propounded by Mr. H. For convenience, they may be -classified as follows: - -1. Answers that were substantially in the interrogator's own mind when -he asked the questions. Such were the answers to the questions: "How -many brothers _did_ she [Mary C----] have?" "Where did she _formerly_ -live?" He tells us that "the pencil slowly wrote out in reply: -'_Catkill_,' leaving out the _s_;" and adds: "of course, this place was -in my mind, though neither of the young people knew anything about the -lady or her residence." - -2. Answers which he does not know were in his mind, but supposes they -must have been. Thus, in his own language, while commenting on the -answers to questions respecting Mary C---- and her brothers: "Nor can -I account for the answer '_Unhappy_,' _unless unconsciously to myself_ -there passed through my mind that vague fear so common to us all when -we inquire about friends of whom we have not heard for years. The death -of the two brothers baffled all conjecture _unless I remembered_ that -during the war I saw the death of a young man of the same name, and I -wondered at the time if it was one of these brothers--whether they had -joined the army." (The Italics our own.) So also of Planchette's answers -to the questions respecting Mr. Green, locating him in Brazil, and -saying that he intended to pay him (Mr. H.) ten thousand dollars next -year, while Mr. G. had last been reported to Mr. H. as being in New -York, and the latter did not know that he had ever been in Brazil. -But Mr. H., after thinking over a certain conversation which he had -previously had with Mr. Green respecting a business journey he had made -to "_South America_," remarks: "Brazil doubtless often occurred to -me--in fact, I was conscious on reflection that I had more frequently -located him in that country than in any other. So when the question was -put, it would involuntarily flash over me _without my being conscious of -it_, 'I wonder if he has gone back to South America, and if his venture -is in Brazil?' _Magnetism caught up the flashing thought and put it -on paper._" (Italics our own.) Such is his hypothesis to explain an -hypothesis! - -3. Answers which he not only knows he had not in his mind when the -questions were asked, but which were directly _contrary_ to his mind or -opinion. Such were answers to several of the questions occurring in the -conversation about Mary C----, as, "better be dead;" "unhappy;" fault -"partly herself;" has "_one_" brother; which latter statement was so -directly contrary to his mind that he even pronounced it "false," until -he thought to inquire, "How many _did_ she have?" - -4. Answers which were not only not in his mind, but which he directly -pronounces "_false_" and thus dismisses them. Such, for instance, is -the answer "Nobody knows," to the question "Where is Mary C----?" "That -this," says he, "was false, is evident on the very face of it." - -With this analysis of the leading phenomena cited by Mr. H. before us, -lot us look at the wonderful things which "electricity and magnetism" -are made to accomplish. - -I do not dispute that there is such a power of the human mind as that -known as clairvoyance. I have had too many proofs of this to doubt it. -But I have had equally positive proofs that the development of its -phenomena is dependent upon certain necessary conditions, among -which are, that the agent of them, in order to be able to reveal the -secret thoughts of another, must possess by nature peculiar nervous -susceptibilities, enabling his psychic emanations, so to speak, to -sympathetically coalesce with those of the person whose thoughts and -internal mental states are to be the subject of investigation. But this -sympathetic coalescence can not take place where there is the slightest -psychic repulsion or antagonism to the clairvoyant on the part of the -interrogating party. Moreover, even when all these conditions are -present, nothing can be correctly read from the mind of the questioner -unless there is on his mind a _clear and distinct definition_ of the -matters of which he seeks to be told. - -But even in class No. 1 of the above series we find that "electricity," -hitherto believed to be only an imponderable and impersonal fluid, has, -upon Mr. H.'s theory, been able to accomplish the revealment of secret -thoughts entirely independent of all these conditions. It is distinctly -stated that those young persons whose hands were on the Planchette knew -nothing whatever of the matters which formed the several subjects of -inquiry; and for aught that is stated to the contrary, they appear -to have been perfectly awake and in their normal state. In addition -to this, it is to be observed that Mr. Headley here appears in the -assumed character of a captious, contentious, and somewhat irritating -questioner, which, whether he intended it or not, was entirely the -opposite of that harmonious and sympathetic interflow of mental states -known in other cases to be necessary to a successful clairvoyant -diagnosis of inward thoughts. And yet "electricity" overleaps all these -obstacles, seizes facts that occurred many years previous, some of which -were known only to Mr. H. and wife, others only to Mr. H. himself, and -instantly flashes forth the appropriate answer! Here is science! If -there were no other phenomena connected with Planchette, this alone -might well challenge the attention of philosophers! - -But if this is wonderful, what shall we think of the achievements of -this same "electricity" and "magnetism" in revealing facts of the second -class--facts which the questioner himself did not and does not now -_know_ were in his mind, but only _supposes they must have been_? Think -of a diffused element of nature, which, from the dawn of creation had -been blind and dead, and only passively obedient to certain laws of -equilibrium, suddenly assuming intelligence and volition, burrowing into -a man's brains, rummaging among ten thousand thoughts, emotions, and -experiences stored up in the archives of his memory, and finally coming -to the mere fossil of a (_supposed_) experience from which the last -vestige of memory-life had departed, and seizing this incident, it moves -the little board with an intelligent volition, and lo, the fact stands -revealed. - -And again, what of that spicy colloquy in which Planchette writes the -words "devil," "devil's brother," "stir fires," "broil you," etc.? Oh, -Mr. H. tells us, "That was owing to the irritation of the mediums, -their horror and fright, their superstition, and their repugnance to -the questions that were being asked." Curious, is it not? to see -"electricity" seizing hold of this irritation, that horror, the other -fright, and such and such a superstition, repugnance, and disgust, -and, carefully arranging these mental emotions, building them up by a -mysterious mason-work into a distinctly defined and sharply pronounced -individuality, with a peculiar moral and intellectual character of its -own, differing more from each and all of the parties present in the -flesh than any one of the latter differed from another! And this -individuality, too, putting forth a volition which was not _their_ -volition, moving the Planchette which _they_ did not move, making -and arranging letters which _they_ did not make and arrange, writing -intelligent words and sentences which _they_ did not write, and then -causing this creation to assume the name and character of a regularly -built "devil"--a character which appears to have been so far from these -young persons' minds that they were unwilling to look it in the face, -and were sorely afraid of it! Surely, if "electricity" can do all this, -then "electricity" itself is the "devil," and the less mankind have to -do with it the better. - -But more wonderful still. It appears that "electricity" can give -answers, of which not even the slightest elements previously existed in -the mind of the questioner or any of the company, and which were even -diametrically _contrary_ to his mind; as in the answers of class No. 3. -Here "electricity" swings loose, and, becoming completely independent, -commences business on its "own hook." Not only so, but it even goes so -far beyond the sphere of Mr. H.'s mind as to _fib_ a little, giving at -least two answers which this writer pronounced "false," as noted in -class No. 4--thus giving a still more signal display of its independent -powers of invention--naughty invention though it was. - -Seriously, had not friend Headley better employ his fine talents -in giving us another clever book or two about "Washington and his -Generals," and leave Mr. Planchette, and that more wonderful personage, -Mr. Electricity, to take care of themselves? We are obliged here to part -company with Mr. H., and pass on for the purpose of having a few words -under this same head with the reverend author of "Planchette, or -Spirit-Rapping Made Easy," in the _Ladies' Repository_. - -I find it difficult to get at the idea of this writer, if indeed he -himself has any definite idea on the subject. By the title of his -article, however, and several expressions that occur in the body of it, -he seems to associate the performances of the Planchette with a somewhat -extensive class of phenomena, in which spirit-rappings, table-tippings, -etc., are included. He says: - - "Twelve years ago I took pains to study the matter, and at that time - I came to conclusions that are every day being proved to be true. I - was soon satisfied that as regarded 'trance mediums,' the cause was - due to one-third trickery, one-third partial insanity or monomania, - and the remainder animal magnetism. I have since learned that opium - and hashish (Indian hemp) played an important part. It was proved - that young ladies purchased written speeches which they delivered - under the influence of hashish." - -He then goes on to speak of galvanism, magnetism, electricity, animal -magnetism, and the odylic force; but, so far as we can see, without -proving any necessary connection between these forces or either of them, -and the subject which he aims to elucidate. Quoting a former article of -his, he continues: - - "The magnetizer of whom I spoke [an exposer of rappings] threw - himself into magnetic connection with the table, and _willed_ it - to move hither and thither. The will in this case seemed to be a - powerful battery, putting its subject into life. Now I suggest - that this power be applied to machinery. We will get us a large - propelling wheel, to which we will connect our machinery. We will - then engage a company of mediums who shall get into _rapport_ with - one wheel, and stand willing the wheel on in its evolutions.... If a - table may be made to spin around the room, why may not a wheel be - made to turn as well?" - -The writer certainly deserves credit for this sage suggestion, and a -patent for his machine; but whether he will succeed in making it operate -satisfactorily without calling into requisition the "monomania," the -"hashish," and the "opium," remains to be seen. He then goes on to -describe Planchette, and afterward continues: - - "The mysterious little creature is called Planchette, and is - no humbug. And it conforms to all the customs of the old-time - tipping-tables. The operator magnetizes Planchette, and by a - mysterious will-power causes it to answer questions. Before giving - illustrations, we may as well state the laws that seem to govern it. - _First._ It will always answer correctly, _if the operator knows the - answer_. _Second._ While it will answer other questions, in all the - experiments I have ever engaged in, it has never answered correctly. - _Third._ If a person standing by, who has strong magnetic powers, - asks a question, Planchette will answer. But _in all cases_, in our - experiments, some ruling mind must have knowledge of what the answer - should be, if a correct answer is returned." - -In reply to the above, we assert, _First_. That the "operator" does not -"magnetize" the board at all, nor does he exercise any "will power" -over it, causing it to answer questions; and if he did thus cause it to -answer only those questions whose answers are already in his mind, what -marvel is there in it, more than there is in my pen being caused by my -will-power to trace these words and sentences? _Secondly._ If by his -_second_ and _third_ specifications of the supposed "laws" which govern -Planchette, he means to imply that it will not tell, _often_ tell, -and tell with remarkable correctness, things that were never known -or dreamed of by the operator, the questioner, or any one present in -visible form, then he simply mistakes, as can be testified by thousands, -in the most positive manner. But the great essential question is, not -so much whether answers given under such and such circumstances can -be _correct_, as whether answers and communications _can be given at -all_, which have no origin in the minds of the persons engaged in -the experiment, and which must hence be referred to some outside -intelligence? - -The writer under review, after all, acknowledges his incompetency to -unravel this subject, by saying: - - "There are mysteries in Planchette. No one is ready to explain the - mysterious connection between the mind and the little machine, but - there can no longer be any doubt that these curious phenomena, - table-tipping and all, are produced by magnetism and electricity.... - It is useless to ignore these things, or to laugh at them. It were - better to account for them, and subject the influence to the power - of man.... When some scientific man will condescend to toy with - Planchette, we shall have the curtain drawn aside behind which the - spirits have operated these years, and this calamitous - spirit-rapping mania will destroy no longer." - -One might almost regret that this latter thought did not occur to the -writer before he commenced his article, in which case, by a little -patient waiting for this ideal and very condescending "scientific -man," we might have been spared this diatribe of jumbled electricity, -magnetism, will-power, opium, hashish, monomania, and driving wheels. - - -ELECTRICITY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. - -From much and varied observation and experiment in reference to the -performances of Planchette, and of kindred phenomena, now extending over -a period of about twenty years, I here record my denial, in the most -emphatic manner, that electricity or magnetism, properly so called, has -anything to do with the mystery at all, and call for the proof that it -has. That a certain psycho-dynamic agency closely allied to, and in some -of its modifications perhaps identical with, Reichenbach's "Od," or -odylic force, may have some mediatorial part to play in the affair, I -do not dispute, nor yet, for the present, do I affirm. But though this -agency has sometimes been identified with what, for the want of a better -term, has been called "animal magnetism," it has yet to be proved, I -believe, that there are any of the properties of the magnet, or of -magnetism, about it, even so much as would suffice to attract the -most comminuted iron filings. It is remarkable that the assertion or -hypothesis that electricity or magnetism is concerned in the production -of the phenomena in question, has never yet had an origin in any high -scientific authority. This is accounted for by the fact that those -who are properly acquainted with this agency, and who have the proper -apparatus at their command, can demonstrate the truth or falsity of -such a hypothesis with the greatest ease. For an experiment, place -your Planchette upon a plate of glass, or some other non-conducting -substance. Attach to it a common pith-ball electrometer, and then let -your medium place his hands upon the board. If electricity equal to the -force even of a small fraction of a grain passes from the medium to -the board, the pith ball, to that extent, will be deflected from its -position. By means of the _Torsion Balance_ electrometer, invented by -Coulomb, the presence of almost the smallest conceivable fraction of -a grain of electrical force in your Planchette or your table might be -detected; and with these delicate tests within reach, tell us not that -the movements in question are caused by electricity till you have -_proved_ it positively and beyond all dispute. - -In the discussion of this electrical theory we have occupied more space -than we originally intended, but we have thought it might be for the -interest of true science to exhibit, once for all, this ridiculous and -yet very popular fallacy, in its true light. - - -THIRD--THE DEVIL THEORY. - -This theory, which appears to have many advocates, is well set forth in -the following excerpts from an article published in the Philadelphia -_Universe_, a Catholic organ: - - "Neither the sight of the eye, nor the touch of the hand, can - discover the spring by which Planchette moves. Therefore it is not, - in its movements, a toy. It moves--undoubtedly it moves. And how? - Intelligently! It answers questions of any kind put to it in any - language required. It does this. This can not be done but by - intelligence. Well, by what description of intelligence? It can not - be supposed that the Divine intelligence is the motive; for how can - God be conceived to make such a manifestation of himself as - Planchette exhibits? - - "A corresponding reason cuts off the idea that it is presided over - by an angelic intelligence; and it is evident to all that a human - mind does not control it. There is but one more character of - intelligence--that of evil spirits. Therefore Planchette is moved by - the agents of hell.... But why should the devil connect himself with - Planchette?... We suppose that the experienced scoundrel is ready to - do anything human wickedness may ask him when souls are the price of - the condescension. But his reasons for particular manifestations are - of small importance here. Facts are facts, and the point is, that - Planchette is not a toy, that it is moved by an intelligence, and - that the intelligence that moves it is necessarily evil. We would - therefore advise all who have a Planchette to build for it a special - fire of pitch and brimstone.... No one has a right to consult the - enemy of God. They who do so are in danger of becoming worshipers of - the devil, and of dwelling with him for ever." - -This theory has at least the merit of being clear, definite, and easy to -be understood, if it is not in all respects convincing. But here we have -an exemplification of the old paradox of an irresistible force coming -in contact with an immovable body. The Catholic priest tells us that -Planchette is _not_ a toy; that it moves by an intelligence and volition -that is not human; that its moving and directing power is of the devil. -The Rev. Dr. Patton, in his article in the _Advance_ (heretofore -referred to), tells us that "It is a philanthropic toy, which may be -used to bring to light hidden connections of mind and body, and to -refute the assumptions of spiritism;" and the Rev. A. D. Field, in his -article in the _Ladies' Repository_, backs up Dr. Patton by saying, that -it is "a mere toy," "is no humbug," is of "some use;"--and, concerning -the _devil_ theory of the general power which moves it and other -physical bodies, he says: there is "too often the spirit of gentleness -to make the theory acceptable." The "immovable body" here, is the -authority of the Catholic priest; the "irresistible force" is the -authority of our clerical brethren representing Protestantism; and after -this fair impingement of the latter upon the former, we shall, perhaps, -have to adopt a compromise solution of the problem, by saying that the -"immovable body" has been moved _a little_, and that the "irresistible -force" has been resisted _some_. - -But this _devil_ theory, if what the Bible teaches us concerning that -personage is true, is encumbered with other difficulties; and the first -of these is, that the devil, however wicked, is not a _fool_. If he -should set a trap for human souls, he would not be so stupid as to tell -them there is a trap there. When approaching human beings, he assumes, -as the good book tells us, the garb of an angel of light; but it is not -likely that he would ever say he is the devil, as Planchette sometimes -does--at least until he felt quite sure of his prey. And again, when, in -a case slightly parallel with cases sometimes involved in the question -in hand, the captious Pharisees accused the Saviour of men of casting -out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils, he reminded them that a -house or a kingdom divided against itself can not stand. Now Planchette, -I admit, is not always a saint--in fact, she sometimes talks and acts -very naughtily as well as foolishly; yet at other times, when a better -_spirit_ takes possession of her, she is gentle, loving, well disposed, -and does certainly give most excellent advice,--advice which could -not be heeded without detriment to the devil's kingdom, and which, -if universally followed, would work its overthrow entirely. It is -inconceivable that Satan would thus tear down with one hand what he -builds up with another. But just at this point I wish to say, I think -there is need of great caution in consulting Planchette on matters -of a weighty or serious nature, lest one should extort from her mere -_confirmations_ of his own errors, either in doctrine or practice; and -that nothing should in any case be accepted from it that is repugnant to -the established principles of the Christian religion. But we are after -the _science_ of the thing now, and for the present that is our only -question--a question, however, which the devil theory, as will appear -from the foregoing, does not seem fully to answer. - - -THEORY OF A FLOATING, AMBIENT MENTALITY. - -It is supposed by those who hold this theory, or rather hypothesis, -that the assumed floating, ambient mentality is an aggregate emanation -from the minds of those present in the circle; that this mentality is -clothed, by some mysterious process, with a force analogous to what it -possesses in the living organism, by which force it is enabled, under -certain conditions, to move physical bodies and write or otherwise -express its thoughts; and that in its expression of the combined -intelligence of the circle, it generally follows the strongest mind, or -the mind that is otherwise best qualified or conditioned to give current -to the thought. Although the writer of the interesting article, entitled -"_Planchette in a New Character_," in _Putnam's Monthly_ for December, -1868, disclaims, at the commencement of his lucubration, all theories on -the subject, yet, after collating his facts, he shows a decided leaning -to the foregoing theory as the nearest approach to a satisfactory -explanation. "Floating, combined intelligence brought to bear upon -an inanimate object," "active intellectual principle afloat in the -circumambient air," are the expressions he uses as probably affording -some light on the subject. This is a thought on which, as concerns its -main features, many others have rested, not only in this country but in -Europe, especially in England, as I am told by a friend who recently -visited several sections of Great Britain where forms of these -mysterious phenomena prevail. - -The first difficulty that stands in the way of this hypothesis is -that it supposes a thing which, if true, is quite as mysterious and -inexplicable as the mystery which it purports to explain. How is it -that an "intellectual principle" can detach itself from an intellectual -being, of whose personality it formed the chief ingredient, and become -an outside, objective, "floating," and "circumambient" entity, with a -capability of thinking, willing, acting, and expressing thought, in -which the original possessor of the emanated principle often has no -conscious participation? And after you have told us this, then tell us -how the "intellectual principle," not only of _one_, but of _several_ -persons can emanate from them, become "floating" and "ambient," and -then, losing separate identity, _conjoin_ and form _one_ active -communicating agent with the powers aforesaid? And after you have -removed from these _mere assumptions_ the aspect of physical and moral -impossibility, you will have another task to perform, and that is to -show us how this emanated, "combined," "floating," "circumambient" -intelligence can sometimes assume an individual and seemingly _personal_ -character of its own, totally distinct from, and, in some features, even -_antagonistic_ to, all the characters in the circle in which the -"emanation" is supposed to have its origin? - -It is not denied now that the answers and communications of Planchette -(and of the influence acting through other channels) often do exhibit -a controlling influence of the mind of the medium or of other persons -in the circle. But no theory should ever be considered as explaining -a mystery unless it covers the _whole ground_ of that mystery. Even, -therefore, should we consider the theory of the "floating intelligence" -of the circle reproducing itself in expression, as explaining that part -of the phenomenon which identifies itself with the minds of the circle -(which it does not), what shall be said of those cases in which the -phenomena exhibit characteristics which are _sui generis_, and can not -possibly have been derived from the minds of the circle? - -That phenomena of the latter class are sometimes exhibited is not -only proved by many other facts that might be cited, but is clearly -exemplified by this same writer in _Putnam's Magazine_. The intelligence -whose performances and communications he relates seems to stand out with -a character and individuality as strongly marked and as distinct from -any and all in the circle as any one of them was distinct from another. -This individuality was first shown by giving its own pet names to the -different persons composing the circle--"Flirt," "Clarkey," "Hon. -Clarke," "The Angel," and "Sassiness." The young lady designated by the -last _sobriquet_, after it had been several times repeated, petitioned -to be indicated thereafter "only by the initial 'S,'" which the -impertinent scribbler accorded only so far as omitting all the letters -except the five S's, so that she was afterward recognized as -"S.S.S.S.S." - -The writer further says: - - "It is always respectful to 'Hon. Clarke,' and when pressed to state - what it thought of him, answered that he was 'a good skipper,' a - reputation fairly earned by his capacity for managing a fleet of - small boats. But we were not contented with so vague an answer, and - our urgent demand for an analysis of his character produced the - reply: 'A native crab apple, but spicy and sweet when ripe.' * * * - When asked to go on, it wrote: 'Ask me Hon. Clarke's character - again, and I will flee to the realms of imperishable woe; or, as - Tabitha is here, say I'll pull your nose;' and on being taunted with - its incapacity to fulfill the threat, it wrote: 'Metaphorically - speaking, of course.' Not satisfied with this rebuff, on another - occasion the subject was again pursued, and the answer elicited as - follows: 'Yes, but you can't fool me. I said nay once, and when I - says nay I means nay.' [A mind of _its own_, then.] More than once - it has lapsed into the same misuse of the verb, as: 'I not only - believes it, but I knows it;' and again: 'You asks and I answers, - because I am here.' * * * - - "Again, on being remonstrated with for illiteracy, it defended - itself by saying: 'I always was a bad speler' (_sic_); an - orthographical blunder that no one in the room was capable of - making. But on the whole, our Planchette is a scientific and - cultivated intelligence, of more than average order, though it may - be, at times, slightly inaccurate in orthography, and occasionally - quote incorrectly; I must even confess that there are moments when - its usual elegance of diction lapses into slang terms and abrupt - contradictions. But, after all, though we flatter ourselves that as - a family we contain rather more than ordinary intelligence, still it - is more than a match for us." - -Who can fail to perceive, from these quotations and admissions, the -marked and distinctive _individuality_ of the intelligence that was -here manifested, as being of itself totally fatal to the idea of -derivation from the circle? - -But not only was this intelligence _distinctive_, but in several -instances even _antagonistic_ to that existing in the circle, as in the -case reported as follows: - - "Some one desiring to pose this ready writer, asked for its theory - of the Gulf Stream; which it announced without hesitation to be - 'Turmoil in the water produced by conglomeration of icebergs.' - Objection was made that the warmth of the waters of the natural - phenomenon rather contradicted this original view of the subject; - to which Planchette tritely responded: 'Friction produces heat.' - 'But how does friction produce heat in this case?' pursued the - questioner. 'Light a match,' was the inconsequent answer--Planchette - evidently believing that the pupil was ignorant of first principles. - 'But the Gulf Stream flows north; how, then, can the icebergs - accumulate at its source?' was the next interrogation; which - elicited the contemptuous reply: 'There is as much ice and snow at - the south pole as at the north, ignorant Clarkey.' 'But it flows - from the Gulf of Mexico?' pursued the undismayed. 'You've got me - there, unless it flows underground,' was the cool and unexpected - retort; and it wound up by declaring, sensibly, that, after all, - 'it is a meeting of the north and south Atlantic currents, which - collide, and the eddie (_sic_) runs northward.' [At another time,] - on being twice interrogated in regard to a subject, it replied - tartly: 'I hate to be asked if I am sure of a fact.'" - -Now, what could have been this intelligence which thus insisted upon -preserving and asserting its individuality so distinctly as to forbid -all reasonable hypothesis of a compounded derivation from the minds of -the circle, even were such a thing possible? A fairy, perhaps, snugly -cuddled up under the board so as to elude observation. Friend "Clarkey," -try again, for surely _this_ time you are a little befogged, or else the -present writer is _more_ so. - - -"TO DAIMONION" (THE DEMON). - -There was published, several years ago, by Gould & Lincoln, Boston, -a little work entitled: "TO DAIMONION, OR THE SPIRITUAL MEDIUM. -_Its nature illustrated by the history of its uniform mysterious -manifestations when unduly excited._ By TRAVERSE OLDFIELD." This author -deals largely in quotations from ancient writers in illustration of his -subject; and as an attempt to explain the mysteries of clairvoyance, -trance, second-sight, "spirit-knockings," intelligent movements of -physical bodies without hands, etc., his work has claims to our -attention which do not usually pertain to the class of works to which it -belongs. "_To Daimonion_" (the demon), or the "spiritual medium," he -supposes to be the _spiritus mundi_, or the spirit of the universe, -which formed so large an element in the cosmological theories of many -ancient philosophers; and this, "when unduly excited" (whatever that -may mean), he supposes to be the medium, not only of many psychic and -apparently preternatural phenomena described in the writings of all -previous ages, but also of the similar phenomena of modern times, of -which it is now admitted that Planchettism is only one of the more -recently developed phases. For some reason, which seemed satisfactory to -him, but which we fear he has not made clear or convincing to the mass -of his readers, this writer assumes it as more than probable that this -_spiritus mundi_--a living essence which surrounds and pervades the -world, and even the whole universe--is identical with the "nervous -principle" which connects the soul with the body,--in all this -unconsciously reaffirming nearly the exact theory first propounded by -Mesmer, in explanation of the phenomena of "animal magnetism," so -called. Quotations are given from Herodotus, Xenophon, Cicero, Pliny, -Galen, and many others, referring to phenomena well known in the times -in which these several writers lived, and which he supposes can be -explained only on the general hypothesis here set forth; and in the same -category of marvels, to be explained in the same way, he places the -performances of the snake-charmers, clairvoyants, thought-readers, etc., -of modern Egypt and India. - -This _spiritus mundi_, or "nervous principle," to which he supposes the -ancients referred when they spoke of "the demon," is, according to his -theory, the medium, or menstruum, by which, under certain conditions -of "excitement," the thoughts and potencies of one mind, with its -affections, emotions, volitions, etc., flow into another, giving rise to -reflex expressions, which, to persons ignorant of this principle, have -seemed possible only as the utterances of outside and supermundane -intelligences. And as this same _spiritus mundi_, or demon, pervades and -connects the mind equally with all _physical_ bodies, in certain _other_ -states of "excitement" it moves those physical bodies, or makes sounds -upon them, expressing intelligence--that intelligence always being a -reflex of the mind of the person who, consciously or unconsciously, -served as the exciting agent. - -Whatever elements of truth this theory, in a _different_ mode of -application, might be found to possess, in the form in which it is here -presented it is encumbered by two or three difficulties which altogether -seem fatal. In the first place, it wears upon its face the appearance of -a thing "fixed up" to meet an emergency, and which would never have been -thought of except by a mind pressed almost to a state of desperation by -the want of a theory to account for a class of facts. Look at it: "The -spirit of the world identical with the nervous principle"!--the same, -"when unduly _excited_," the medium by which a mind may _unconsciously_ -move other minds and organisms, or even dead matter, in the expression -of its own thoughts! Where is the shadow of proof? Is it anything more -than the sheerest assumption? - -Then again: even if this mere assumption were admitted for truth, it -would not account for that large class of facts referred to in the -course of our remarks on the "Electrical theory," unless this _spiritus -mundi_, demon, nervous principle, or spiritual medium, is made at once -not only the "medium," but the intelligent and designing _source_ of -the communication; for, as we have said before, it would be perfectly -useless to deny that thoughts are sometimes communicated through the -Planchette and similar channels, which positively never had any -existence in the minds of any of the persons visibly present. - -And then, too, in relation to the nature of the demon, or demons: the -theory of the ancients, from whose representative minds this writer has -quoted, was notoriously quite different from that which he has given. -The ancients recognized good demons and evil demons. The demon of -Socrates was regarded by him as an invisible, individual intelligence. A -legion of demons were in one instance cast out by Christ from the body -of a man whom they had infested; we can hardly suppose that these were -simply a legion of "nervous principles" or "souls of the world." What -those demons were really understood to be in those days, may be learned -from a passage in the address of Titus to his army, when encamped before -Jerusalem, in which, in order to remove from their minds the fear of -death in battle, he says: - - "For what man of virtue is there who does not know that those souls - which are severed from their fleshy bodies in battles by the sword, - are received by the ether, that purest of elements, and joined to - that company which are placed among the stars; that they become - _good demons_ and propitious heroes, and show themselves as such to - their posterity afterward?"--_Josephus, Wars of the Jews, B. VI., - chap. 1, sec. 5._ - -Hesiod and many others might be quoted to the same purpose; but let -this suffice as to the character and origin of these demons; and it may -suffice also for the theory of _To Daimonion_, as to the particular -mystery here to be explained. - - -IT IS SOME PRINCIPLE OF NATURE AS YET UNKNOWN. - -If there is any wisdom in this theory, it is so profound that we "don't -see it." It looks very much to us as though this amounted only to the -saying that "all we know about the mystery is, that it is _unknown_; all -the explanation that we can give of it is, that it is inexplicable; and -that the only theory of it is, that it has no theory." Thus it leaves -the matter just where it was before, and we should not have deemed this -saying worthy of the slightest notice had we not heard and read so much -grave discussion on the subject, criticising almost every other theory, -and then concluding with the complacent announcement of the writer's or -speaker's theory as superior to all others, that "_it is some principle -or force of nature as yet unknown_!" - - -THEORY OF THE AGENCY OF DEPARTED SPIRITS. - -This theory apparently has both merits and difficulties, which at -present we can only briefly notice. Among the strong points in its -favor, the first and most conspicuous one is, that it accords with -what this mysterious intelligence, in all its numerous forms of -manifestation, has steadily, against all opposition, persisted in -claiming _for itself_, from its first appearance, over twenty years -ago, till this day. And singularly enough, it appears as a fact -which, perhaps, should be stated as a portion of the history of these -phenomena, that years before public attention and investigation were -challenged by the first physical manifestation that claimed a spiritual -origin, an approaching and general revisitation of departed human -spirits was, in several instances, the burden of _remarkable -predictions_. I have in my possession a little book, or bound pamphlet, -entitled, "A Return of Departed Spirits," and bearing the imprint, -"Philadelphia: Published by J. R. Colon, 203½ Chestnut Street, 1843," -in which is contained an account of strange phenomena which occurred -among the Shakers at New Lebanon, N. Y., during the early part of that -year. In the language of the author: "Disembodied spirits began to take -possession of the bodies of the brethren and sisters; and thus, by using -them as instruments, made themselves known by speaking through the -individuals whom they had got into." The writer then goes on to describe -what purported to be the visitations of hundreds in that way, from -different nations and tribes that had lived on earth in different -ages--the consistency of the phenomena being maintained throughout. I -have conversed with leading men among the Shakers of the United States -concerning this affair, and they tell me that the visitation was not -confined to New Lebanon, but extended, more or less, to all the Shaker -communities in the United States--not spreading from one to another, -but appearing nearly simultaneously in all. They also tell me that the -phenomena ceased about as suddenly as they appeared; and that when the -brethren were assembled, by previous appointment, to take leave of their -spirit-guests, they were exhorted by the latter to treasure up these -things in their hearts; to say nothing about them to the world's people, -but to wait patiently, and soon they (the spirits) would return, and -make their presence known to the world generally. - -During the interval between the autumn of 1845 and the spring of 1847, -a book, wonderful for its inculcations both of truth and error, was -dictated in the mesmeric state by an uneducated boy--A. J. Davis--in -which the following similar prediction occurs: - - "It is a truth that spirits commune with one another while one is in - the body and the other in the higher spheres--and this, too, when - the person in the body is unconscious of the influx, and hence can - not be convinced of the fact; and this truth will ere long present - itself in the form of a living demonstration. And the world will - hail with delight the ushering in of that era when the interiors of - men will be opened, and the spiritual communion will be established, - such as is now being enjoyed by the inhabitants of Mars, Jupiter, - and Saturn."--_Nat. Div. Rev., pp. 675, 676._ - -Eight months after the book containing this passage was published, and -more than a year after the words here quoted were dictated and written, -strange rapping sounds were heard in an obscure family in an obscure -village in the western part of New York. On investigation, those sounds -were found to be connected with intelligence, which, rapping at certain -letters of the alphabet as it was called over, spelled sentences, and -claimed to be a _spirit_. The phenomena increased, assumed many other -forms, extended to other mediums, and rapidly spread, not only all -over this country, but over the civilized world. And wherever this -intelligence has been interrogated under conditions which _itself_ -prescribes for proper answers, its great leading and persistent response -to the question, "What are you?" has been, "_We are spirits!_" Candor -also compels us to admit that this claim has been perseveringly -maintained against the combined opposition of the great mass of -intelligent and scientific minds to whom the world has looked for its -guidance; and so successfully has it been maintained, that its converts -are now numbered by millions, gathered, not from the ranks of the -ignorant and superstitious, but consisting mostly of the intelligent -and thinking middle classes, and of many persons occupying the highest -positions in civil and social life. - -At first its opponents met it with expressions of utter contempt and -cries of "humbug." Many ingenious and scientific persons volunteered -their efforts to expose the "trick;" and if they seemed, in some -instances, to meet with momentary success in solving the mystery, the -next day would bring with it some _new_ form of the phenomenon to -which none of their theories would apply. Being finally discouraged by -repeated failures to explain the hidden cause of these wonders, they -withdrew from the field, and for many years allowed the matter to go by -default; and only within the last twelvemonth has investigation of the -subject been re-aroused by the introduction into this country of the -little instrument called "the Planchette"--an instrument which, to our -certain knowledge, was used at least ten years ago in France, and that, -too, as a supposed means of communicating with departed spirits. - -This little board has been welcomed as a "toy" or a "game" into -thousands of families, without suspicion of its having the remotest -connection with so-called "Spiritualism." The cry has been raised, - - "Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes," - -but too late! The Trojan walls are everywhere down; the wooden horse is -already dragged into the city with all the armed heroes concealed in its -bowels; the battle has commenced, and must be fought out to the bitter -end, as best it may be; and in the numerous magazine and newspaper -articles that have lately appeared on the subject, we have probably -only the beginning of a clash of arms which must terminate one way or -another. - -Should our grave and learned philosophers find themselves overcome by -this little three-legged spider, it will be mortifying; but in order to -avoid that result, we fear they will have to do better than they have -done yet. - -On the other hand, before the Spiritualists can be allowed to claim the -final victory in this contest, they should, it seems to me, be required -to answer the following questions in a manner satisfactory to the -highest intelligence and the better moral and religious sense of the -community: - -Why is it that "spirits" communicating through your mediums, by -Planchette or otherwise, can not relate, plainly and circumstantially, -_any_ required incident of their lives, as a man would relate his -history to a friend, instead of dealing so much in vague and ambiguous -generalities, as they almost always do, and that, too, often in the bad -grammar or bad spelling of the medium? Or, as a question allied to this, -why is it that what purports to be the _same_ spirit, generally, if not -_always_, fails, when trial is made, to identify himself in the _same -manner_ through any two different mediums? Or, as another question still -allied to the above, why is it that your Websters, Clays, Calhouns, and -others, speaking through mediums, so universally give the idea that they -have deteriorated in intellect since they passed into the spirit-world? -And why is it that so little discourse or writing that possesses real -merit, and so much that is mere drivel, has come through your mediums, -if _spirits_ are the authors? And why does it so often happen that the -spirits--if they _are_ spirits--can not communicate anything except what -is already in the mind of the medium, or at least of some other person -present? It does not quite answer these questions to say that the -medium is "_undeveloped_" unless you explain to us precisely on what -principle the undevelopment affects the case. A speaking-trumpet may -be "undeveloped"--cracked or wanting in some of its parts, so as to -deteriorate the sound made through it; but we should at least expect -that a man speaking through it would speak his own thoughts, and not the -thoughts of the trumpet. - -And then, looking at this subject in its _moral_ and _social_ aspects, -the question should be answered: Why, on the supposition that these -communications really come from immortal spirits, have they made so -little progress, during the twenty years that they have been with -us, in elevating the moral and social standard of human nature, in -making better husbands and wives, parents and children, citizens and -philanthropists, in drawing mankind together in harmony and charity, and -founding and endowing great institutions for the elevation of the race? -Rather may we not ask, in all kindness, why is it that the Spiritualist -community has been little more than a Babel from the beginning to the -present moment? - -Or, ascending to the class of themes that come under the head of -Religion: Why is it that prayer is so generally ignored, and the worship -of God regarded as an unworthy superstition? Why is it that in the -diatribes, dissertations, and speeches of those who profess to act under -the sanction of the "spirits," we have a reproduction of so much of -the slang and ribaldry of the infidels of the last century, and of the -German Rationalism of the present, which is now being rejected by the -Germans themselves? And why is it that in their references to the great -lights of the world, we so often have Confucius, Jesus Christ, and -William Shakspeare jumbled up into indistinguishability? - -I do not say that all these questions may not be answered consistently -with the claims of the spiritual hypothesis, but I _do_ say that before -our Spiritualist friends can have a _right_ to expect the better portion -of mankind to drink down this draft of philosophy which they have mixed, -they must at least satisfy them that there is _no poison_ in it. - -Having thus exhibited these several theories, and, to an extent, -discussed them _pro et contra_, it is but fair that we should now ask -Planchette--using that name in a liberal sense--what is _her_ theory of -the whole matter? Perhaps it may be said that after raising this world -of curiosity and doubt in the public mind as to its own origin and -true nature, we have some semblance of a right to hold this mysterious -intelligence responsible for a solution of the difficulty it has -created; and perhaps if we are a little skillful in putting our -questions, and occasionally call in the aid of Planchette's brothers and -sisters, and other members of this mysterious family, we may obtain some -satisfactory results. - - -PLANCHETTE'S OWN THEORY. - -Planchette is intelligent; she can answer questions, and often answer -them correctly, too. On what class of subjects, then, might she be -expected to give answers more generally correct than those which relate -to herself, especially if the questions be asked in a proper spirit, -and under such conditions as are claimed to be requisite for correct -responses? Following the suggestion of this thought, the original plan -of this essay has been somewhat modified, and a careful consultation -instituted, of which I here submit the results: - -_Inquirer._ Planchette, excuse me if I now treat you as one on whom a -little responsibility is supposed to rest. An exciter of curiosity, if -as intelligent as you appear to be, should be able to satisfy curiosity; -and a creator of doubts may be presumed to have some ability to solve -doubts. May I not, then, expect from _you_ a solution of the mysteries -which have thus far enveloped you? - -_Planchette._ That will depend much upon the spirit in which you may -interrogate me, the pertinence of your questions, and your capacity to -interpret the answers. If you propose a serious and careful consultation -for really useful purposes, there is another thing which you should -understand in the commencement. It is that, owing to conditions and laws -which may yet be explained to you, I shall be compelled to use your own -mind as a scaffolding, so to speak, on which to stand to pass you down -the truths you may seek, and which are above the reach of your own mind -alone. Keep your mind unperturbed, then, as well as intent upon your -object, or I can do but little for you. - -_I._ The question which stands as basic to all others which I wish to -ask is, What is the nature of this power, intelligence, and will that -communicates with us in this mysterious manner? - -_P._ It is the reduplication of your own mental state; it is a spirit; -it is the whole spiritual world; it is God--one or all, according to -your condition and the form and aspect in which you are able to receive -the communication. - -_I._ That is covering rather too much ground for a beginning. For -definiteness, suppose we take one of those points at a time. In -saying, "It is a spirit," do you mean that you yourself, the immediate -communicating agent, are an intelligence outside of, and separate from, -myself, and that that intelligence is the spirit or soul of a man who -once occupied a physical body, as I now do? - -_P._ That is what I assert--only in reaffirmation of what the world, in -explanation of similar phenomena, has been told a thousand times before. - -_I._ Excuse me if I should question you a little closely on this point. -There are grave difficulties in the way of an acceptance of this theory. -The first of these is the _prima facie_ absurdity of the idea. - -_P._ Absurdity! How so? - -_I._ It is so contrary to our ordinary course of thought; contrary, I -may say, to our instincts; contrary to what the human faculties would -naturally expect; contrary to the general experience of the world up to -this time. In fact, the more highly educated minds of the world have -long agreed in classing the idea as among the grossest of superstitions. - -_P._ If you would, in place of each one of these assertions, affirm -directly the contrary, you would come much nearer the truth. It is -certain that the highest minds, as well as the lowest, of all ages and -nations, with only such exceptions as prove rather than disprove the -rule, have confidently believed in the occasional interposition of -spirits in mundane affairs. True, there are in this age many of the -class which you call the "more highly educated minds," who, spoiled by -reasonings merely sensual, and hence necessarily sophistical, do not -admit such an idea; but do not even these generally admit that there is -an invisible world of spirits? - -_I._ Most of them do; all professing Christians do. I do, certainly. - -_P._ Let me test their consistency, and yours, then, by asking, Do they -and you hold that one and the same God made all worlds, both natural and -spiritual, and all things in them? - -_I._ Of course they do; how otherwise? - -_P._ Then, seeing that you acknowledge the unity of the Cause of all -worlds and all things in them, you must acknowledge a certain union of -all these in one universal system as the offspring of that one Cause, -must you not? - -_I._ Yes; I suppose the totality of things, natural and spiritual, must -be acknowledged as forming, in some sense, one united system, of diverse -but mutually correlated parts. - -_P._ Please tell me, then, how there can be any united system in which -the component parts, divisions, and subdivisions, down even to the most -minute, are not each, necessarily and always, in communication with all -the others, either immediately or mediately? - -_I._ I see the point, and acknowledge it is ingeniously made; but do you -not see that the argument fails to meet the whole difficulty? - -_P._ What I do see is, that in admitting a connection of any kind, -whether mediate or immediate, between the natural and spiritual worlds, -you admit that a communication between the two worlds--hence between all -things of one and all things of the other; hence between the intelligent -inhabitants of one and those of the other--is logically not only -possible but probable, not to say certain; and in this admission you -yield the point under immediate discussion, and virtually concede that -the idea of spirit-communication is not only _not absurd_, but is, -indeed, among the most reasonable of things, to which ignorance and -materialistic prejudice alone have given the aspect of absurdity. - -_I._ Well, there is something in that which looks like argument, I must -admit. - -_P._ Can you not go a little farther and admit for established fact, -proved by the testimony of the Book from which you derive your religious -faith, that communications between spirits and mortals have sometimes -taken place? - -_I._ True, but the Bible calls the spirits thus communicating, "familiar -spirits," and those who have dealings with them, "witches" and -"wizards," and forbids the practice under severe penalties. How does -that sound to you, my ingenious friend? - -_P._ The way you put it, it sounds as though you did not quite -understand the full scope of my question; but no matter, since it is -at once a proof and an acknowledgment on your part that spirits have -communicated with mortals--the essential point in dispute, which when -once admitted will render further reasonings more plain. Let me ask you, -however, was not the practice of consulting familiar spirits that is -forbidden in the Bible, a practice that was common among the heathen -nations of those times? - -_I._ It was, and is spoken of as such in several passages. - -_P._ Did not the heathens consult familiar spirits as petty divinities, -or gods, and as such, follow their sayings and commands implicitly? and -would not the Israelites to whom the Old Testament was addressed have -violated the first command in the decalogue by adopting this practice? -and was not that the reason, and the only reason, why the practice was -forbidden? - -_I._ To each of those questions I answer, Yes, certainly. - -_P._ Do the Old or New Testament writings anywhere command us to abstain -from all intercourse with spirits?--or from any intercourse which would -not be a violation of the command, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before -me?" - -_I._ Really I do not know that the Bible contains any such command. - -_P._ Do you not know, on the contrary, that spirits other than those -called "familiar spirits," often did communicate, and with apparently -good and legitimate purposes, too, with men whose names are mentioned in -the Bible? - -_I._ Well, I must in candor say that there were some cases of that kind. - -_P._ May you not, then, from all this learn a rule which will always -be a safe guide to you in respect to the matters under discussion? I -submit for your consideration, that that rule is, "Be not forgetful to -entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." -But even if the "strangers" that may come to you, either of your own -world or the spirit-world, should prove to be "angels," do not follow -them implicitly, or in an unreasoning manner, nor worship them as gods, -for in so doing you would render yourself amenable to the law against -having dealings with "familiar spirits." - -_I._ I must admit that your remarks throw a somewhat new light on the -subject, and I do not know that I can dispute what you say. But even -admitting all your strong points thus far, the spirit-theory of -Planchettism and other and kindred modern wonders remains encumbered -with a mass of difficulties which it seems to me must be removed before -it can be considered as having much claim to the credence of good and -rational minds. On some of these points I propose now to question you -somewhat closely, and shall hope that you will bear with me in the same -patience and candor which you have thus far manifested. - -_P._ Ask your questions, and I shall answer them to the best of my -ability. - - -THE RATIONAL DIFFICULTY. - -_I._ The difficulties, as they appear to me, are of a threefold -character--_Rational_, _Moral_, and _Religious_. I begin with the first, -the Rational Difficulty. And for a point to start from, let me ask, -Is it true, as generally held, that when a man becomes disencumbered -of the clogs and hinderances of the flesh, and passes into the -spirit-world--especially into the realms of the just--his intellect -becomes more clear and comprehensive? - -_P._ That is true, as a general rule. - -_I._ How is it, then, that in returning to communicate with us mortals, -the alleged spirits of men who were great and wise while living on the -earth, almost uniformly appear to have _degenerated_ as to their mental -faculties, being seldom, if ever, able to produce anything above -mediocrity? And why is it that the speaking and writing purporting to -come from spirits, are so generally in the bad grammar, bad spelling, -and other distinctive peculiarities of the style of the medium, and so -often express precisely what the medium knows, imagines, or surmises, -and nothing more? - -_P._ That your questions have a certain degree of pertinence, I must -admit; but in making this estimate of the intelligence purporting to -come from the spiritual world, have you not ignored some things which -candor should have compelled you to take into the account? Think for a -moment. - -_I._ Well, perhaps I ought to have made an exception in your own -favor. Your communication with me thus far has, I must admit, been -characterized by a remarkable breadth and depth of intelligence, as well -as ingenuity of argument. - -_P._ And what, too, of the style and merits of the communications -purporting to come from spirits to other persons and through other -channels--are they not, as an almost universal rule, decidedly superior -to anything the medium could produce, unaided by the influence, whatever -it may be, which acts upon him? - -_I._ Perhaps they are; indeed, I must admit I have known many instances -of alleged spirit-communications which, though evidently stamped with -some of the characteristics of the medium, were quite above the normal -capacity of the latter; yet in themselves considered, they were -generally beneath the capacity of the _living man_ from whose -disembodied spirit they purported to come. - -_P._ By just so much, then, as the production given through a medium is -elevated above the medium's normal capacity, is the influence which acts -upon him to be credited with the character of that production. Please -make a note of this point gained. And now for the question why these -communications should be tinctured with the characteristics of the -medium at all; and why spirits can not, as a general rule, communicate -to mortals their own normal intelligence, freely and without -obstruction, as man communicates with man, or spirit with spirit. But -that we may be enabled to make this mystery more clear, we had better -attend first to another question which I see you have in your mind--the -question as to the potential agent used by spirits in making -communications. - - -THE MEDIUM--THE DOCTRINE OF SPHERES. - -_I._ That is what we are anxious to understand; electricity, magnetism, -odylic force, or whatever you may know or believe it to be--give us all -the light you can on the subject. - -_P._ Properly speaking, neither of these, or neither without important -qualifications. Preparatory to the true explanation, I will lay the -foundation of a new thought in your mind by asking, Do you know of any -body or organism in nature--unless, indeed, it be a _dead_ body--which -has not something answering to an atmosphere? - -_I._ It has been said by some astronomers that the moon has no -atmosphere; though others, again, have expressed the opinion that she -has, indeed, an atmosphere, but a very rare one. - -_P._ Precisely so; and as might have been expected from the rarity -of her atmosphere, she has the smallest amount of cosmic life of -any planetary body in the solar system--only enough to admit of the -smallest development of vegetable and animal forms. Still, every sun, -planet, or other cosmic body in space is generally, and every regularly -constituted form connected with that body is specifically, surrounded, -and also pervaded, by its own peculiar and characteristic atmosphere; -and to this universal rule, minerals, plants, animals, man, and in their -own degree even the disembodied men whom you call "spirits," form no -exception. - -_I._ Do you mean to say that man and spirits, and also the lower living -forms, are surrounded by a sphere of air or wind like the atmosphere of -the earth, but yet no part of that atmosphere? - -_P._ The atmospheres of other bodies than planets are not air or wind, -but in their substances are so different from what you know as the -atmospheres of planets as not to have anything specifically in common -with them. The specific atmospheres of flowers, and when excited by -friction, those also of some metals, and even of stone crystals, -are often perceptible to the sense of smell, and are in that way -distinguishable not only from the atmosphere of the earth, but also from -the atmospheres of each other. But properly speaking, the psychic _aura_ -surrounding man and spirits should no longer be called an atmosphere, -that is, an _atom-sphere_ or sphere of atoms, but simply a "sphere;" -for it is not atomic, that is, material, in its constitution, but is -a spiritual substance, and as such extends indefinitely into space, -or rather has only an indirect relation to space at all. Nor is the -atmosphere, as popularly understood, the only enveloping sphere of the -earth, for beyond and pervading it, and pervading also even all solid -bodies, is a sublime interplanetary substance called "ether," the -vehicle of light, and next approach to spiritual substance; while all -bodies, solid, liquid, and gaseous, are also pervaded by electricity. - -_I._ All that is interesting, but the subject is new to me, and I would -like to have some farther illustration. Can you cite me some familiar -fact to prove that man is actually surrounded and pervaded by a sphere -such as you describe? - -_P._ I can only say that you are at times conscious of the fact -yourself, as all persons are who are possessed of an ordinary degree -of psychic sensitiveness. Does not even the silent presence of certain -persons, though entire strangers, affect you with an uncomfortable sense -of repulsion, perhaps embarrassing your thoughts and speech, while in -the presence of others you at once feel perfectly free, easy, at home, -and experience even a marked and mysterious sense of congeniality? - -_I._ That is so; I have often noticed it, but never could account for -it. - -_P._ Farther than this, have you not at times when free from external -disturbances, with the mind in a revery of loose thoughts, noticed the -abrupt intrusion of the thought of a person altogether out of the line -of your previous meditations, and then observed that the same person -would come bodily into your presence very shortly afterward? - -_I._ I have, frequently; the same phenomenon appears to have been -noticed by others, and is so common an occurrence as to have given rise -to the well-known slang proverb, "Speak of the devil and he will always -appear." - -_P._ Just so; but still further: Have you not personally known of -instances, or been credibly informed of them, in which mutually -sympathizing friends of highly sensitive organizations were mysteriously -and correctly impressed with each other's general conditions, even when -long distances apart, and without any external communication? - -_I._ I have heard and read of many such cases, but could have scarcely -believed them had I not had some experience of the kind myself. - -_P._ There must, then, be here some medium of communication; that medium -is evidently not anything cognizable to either of the five outer senses. -What, then, can it be but the co-related spheres of the two persons, -which I have already told you are not atomic--not material but -spiritual, and as such have little relation to space? - -_I._ That idea, if true, looks to me to be of some importance, and I -would like you, if you can, to show me clearly what relation these -"spheres," as you call them, have to the spiritual nature of man. - -_P._ Consider, then, the primal meaning of the word "spirit:" It is -derived from the Latin _spiritus_, the basic meaning of which is -_breath_, _wind_, air--nearly the same idea that you attach to the word -"atmosphere." So the Greek word _pneuma_, also translated "spirit," -means precisely the same thing. The same meaning is likewise attached -to the Hebrew word _ruach_, also sometimes translated "spirit." Now, -carrying out this use of terms, the wind, air, or atmosphere of the -earth (including the ether, electricity, and other imponderable -elements) is the spirit of the earth;[2] the atmosphere of any other -body, great or small, is the spirit of that body; the atmosphere, or -rather sphere, being now without atoms, of a man, considered as an -intellectual and moral being, is the spirit of that man; the sphere of -a disembodied man or soul is the spirit of that man or soul; and so the -Infinite and Eternal Sphere of the Deity which pervades and controls all -creations both in the spiritual and natural universe, is the Spirit of -the Deity, which in the Bible is called the Holy Spirit. - - [2] Query: Have we here the _spiritus mundi_ of the old - philosophers? - -_I._ Well, those ideas seem singularly consistent with themselves, to -say the least, however novel they may appear. But now another point: You -have said that atmospheres or spheres surround and pervade all bodies, -unless, indeed, they be _dead_ bodies--attributing, as I understand you, -a kind of _cosmic_ life to plants, and a mineral life to minerals, as -well as a vegetable and animal life respectively to vegetables and -animals; do you mean by that to intimate that the sphere is the _effect_ -or the _cause_ of the living body? - -_P._ Of each living material form, the sphere, or at least _some_ -sphere, was the cause. Matter, considered simply by itself, is dead, and -can only live by the influx of a surrounding sphere or spirit. It may -be said at the last synthesis, that the _general_ sphere even of each -microscopic monad that is in process of becoming vitalized, as well as -of the great nebulous mass that is to form a universe, is the Spirit -of the Infinite Deity, which is present with atoms in the degree of -atoms, as well as with worlds in the degree of worlds. This Spirit, -as it embodies itself in matter, becomes segregated, finited, and -individualized, and forms a specific soul, spirit, or sphere by itself, -now no longer deific, but always of a nature necessarily corresponding -to the peculiar form and condition of the matter in which it becomes -embodied. Life, therefore, is not the result of organization, but -organization is the result of life, which latter is eternal, never -having had a beginning, and never to have an end. Some of your -scientific men have recently discovered what they have been pleased to -term "the physical basis of life," in a microscopic and faintly vital -substance called _protoplasm_, which forms the material foundation of -all organic structures, both in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. They -have not yet, however, discovered the source from which the life found -in this substance comes--which would be plain to them if they understood -the doctrine of spheres and influx as I have here given it. - -_I._ I thank you for this profoundly suggestive thought, even should it -prove to be no more than a thought. But please now show us what bearing -all this has upon the question more particularly before us--the question -as to the medium and process through which this little board is moved, -the tables are tipped, people are entranced and made to speak and write, -and all these modern wonders are produced--also how and why it is that -the alleged spirit-communications are commonly tinctured, more or less, -with the peculiar characteristics of the human agents through whom they -are given? - -_P._ You now have some idea of the doctrine of spheres; you will, -however, understand that the spheres of created beings, owing to a unity -of origin, are universally co-related, and, under proper conditions, can -act and react upon each other. You have before had some true notion of -the laws of _rapport_, which means relation or correspondence. You will -understand, further, that there can be no action between any two things -or beings in any department of creation except as they are in _rapport_ -or correspondence with each other, and that the action can go no farther -than the _rapport_ or correspondence extends. Now, two spirits can -always, when it is in divine order, readily communicate with each other, -because they can always bring themselves into direct _rapport_ at some -one or more points. Though matter is widely discreted from spirit, in -that the one is dead and the other is alive, yet there is a certain -correspondence between the two, and between the degrees of one and the -degrees of the other; and according to this correspondence, relation, -or _rapport_, spirit may act upon matter. Thus your spirit, in all its -degrees and faculties, is in the closest _rapport_ with all the degrees -of matter composing your body, and for this reason alone it is able to -move it as it does, which it will no longer be able to do when that -_rapport_ is destroyed by what you call death. Through your body it is -_en rapport_ with, and is able to act upon, surrounding matter. If, -then, you are in a susceptible condition, a spirit can not only get into -_rapport_ with your spirit, and through it with your body, and control -its motions, or even suspend your own proper action and external -consciousness by entrancement, but if you are at the same time _en -rapport_ with this little board, it can, through contact of your hands, -get into _rapport_ with _that_, and move it without any conscious or -volitional agency on your part. Furthermore, under certain favorable -conditions, a spirit may, through your sphere and body combined, come -into _rapport_ even with the spheres of the ultimate particles of -material bodies near you, and thence with the particles and the whole -bodies themselves, and may thus, even without contact of your hands, -move them or make sounds upon them, as has often been witnessed. Its -action, however, as before said, ceases where the _rapport_ ceases; and -if communications from really intelligent spirits have sometimes been -defective as to the quality of the intelligence manifested, it is -because there has been found nothing in the medium which could be -brought into _rapport_ or correspondence with the more elevated ideas of -the spirit. The spirit, too, in frequent instances, is unable to prevent -its energizing influences from being diverted by the reactive power of -the medium, into the channels of the imperfect types of thought and -expression that are established in his mind, and it is for this simple -reason that the communication is, as you say, often tinctured with the -peculiarities of the medium, and even sometimes is nothing more than -a reproduction of the mental states of the latter, perhaps greatly -intensified. - -_I._ If this theory, so far seemingly very plausible, is really the -correct one, it ought to go one step farther, and explain the many -disorderly unintelligible rappings, thumpings, throwing of stones, -hurling of furniture, etc., which often have occurred in the presence -of particular persons, or at particular places.[3] - - [3] See an article entitled "_A Remarkable Case of Physical - Phenomena_," in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for August, 1868. - -_P._ Those are manifestations which, when not the designed work of evil -spirits, have their proximate source in the dream-region which lies -between the natural and spiritual worlds. - -_I._ Pray tell us what you mean by the dream-region that lies between -the two worlds? - -_P._ There are sometimes conditions in which the body is profoundly -asleep, with no perturbations of the nervous system caused by previous -mental and physical exercise. In this state the mind may still be -perfectly awake, and independently, consciously, and even intensely -active. When thus conditioned, it may be, and often is, among spirits -in the spiritual world, though from the nature of the case it is seldom -able to bring back into the bodily state any reminiscences of the scenes -of that world. The dream state, properly speaking, is not this, but -a state intermediate between this and the normal, wakeful state of -the bodily senses, and is a state of broken, confused, irrational, -inconsistent, and irresponsible thoughts, emotions, and apparent -actions--the whole arising from confusedly intermixed bodily and -spiritual states and influences. The potential spheres of spirits who -desire to make manifestations to the natural world sometimes become -commingled, designedly or otherwise, with the spheres of persons in the -body who, in consequence of certain nervous or psychic disorders, are -more or less in this dream-region even when the body is so far awake as -to be _en rapport_ with external things; and in such cases, whatever -manifestations may arise from the spiritual potencies with which such -persons are surcharged, will of necessity be beyond the control, or -possibly even beyond the cognizance, of any governing spirit, and will -be irrational, inconsistent, and sometimes very annoying, or even -destructive, according to the types of the dreamy mentality of the -medium. If you will think for a moment, you will remember that the kind -of manifestations referred to are never known to occur except in the -presence of persons in a semi-somnambulic or highly hysterical state, -or laboring under some analogous nervous disorders; and the persons are -often of a low organization, and very ignorant. - - -THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY. - -_I._ I am constrained to say, my mysterious friend, that the novelty and -ingenuity of your ideas surprise me greatly, and I do, in all candor, -acknowledge that you have skillfully disposed of my objections to the -spiritual theory of these phenomena on _rational_ grounds, and explained -the philosophy of this thing, in a manner which I am at present unable -to gainsay. I must still hesitate, however, to enroll myself among the -converts to the spiritual theory unless you can remove another serious -objection, which rests on _moral and religious grounds_. From so -important and startling a development as general open communications -from spirits, it seems to me that we would have a right to expect some -conspicuous _good_ to mankind; yet, although this thing has been before -the world now over twenty years, I am unable to see the evidence that -it has wrought any improvement in the moral and social condition of -the converts to its claims. Pray, how do you account for that fact? - -_P._ My friend, that question should be addressed to the Spiritualists, -not to me. I will say, however, that this whole subject, long as it has -been before the world, is still in a chaotic state, its laws have been -very little understood, and even its essential objects and uses have -been very much misconceived. I may add that, from its very nature, its -real practical fruits as well as its true philosophy must necessarily be -the growth of a considerable period of time. - -_I._ I will not, then, press the objection in that form. When we look, -however, at the _Religious_ tendencies of the thing, I do not think we -find much promise of the "practical fruits" which you here intimate may -yet come of it. I lay it down as a proposition which all history proves, -that Infidelity, in all its forms, is an enemy to the human race, and -that it never has done or can do anybody any good, but always has done -and must do harm. But it is notorious that the spirits, if they be -such, with their mediums and disciples, have _generally_ (though not -universally, I grant) assumed an attitude at least of _apparent_ -hostility to almost every thing peculiar to the Christian religion, -and most essential to it, and are constantly reiterating the almost -identical ribaldry and sophistry of the infidels of the last century. -How shall a good and Christian person who knows and has felt the truth -of the vital principles of Christianity become a Spiritualist while -Spiritualism thus denies and scoffs at doctrines which he _feels_ and -_knows_ to be true? - -_P._ The point you thus make is apparently a very strong one. But let -me ask, Can you not conceive that there may be a difference between the -mere word-teaching of Spiritualists and even spirits themselves, and the -_real_ teaching of Spiritualism as such? that is to say, between mere -verbal utterances and phenomenal demonstrations? For illustration, -suppose a man asserts at noonday that there is no sun, does he teach you -there is no sun? or does he teach you that he is blind? - -_I._ That he is blind, of course. - -_P._ So, then, when a spirit comes to you and asserts that there is no -God--it is seldom that they assert that, but we will take an extreme -case--does he teach you that there is no God, or does he teach you that -he himself is a fool? - -_I._ Well, I should say he would teach the latter; but what use would -the knowledge that he is such a fool be to us? - -_P._ It is one of the important providential designs of these -manifestations to teach mankind that spirits in general maintain -the characters that they formed to themselves during their earthly -life--that, indeed, they are the identical persons they were while -dwelling in the flesh--hence, that while there are just, truthful, -wise, and Christian spirits, there are also spirits addicted to lying, -profanity, obscenity, mischief, and violence, and spirits who deny God -and religion, just as they did while in your world. It has become very -necessary for mankind to know all this; it certainly could in no other -way be so effectually made known as by an actual manifestation of it; -and it is just as necessary that you should see the _dark_ side as the -_bright_ side of the picture. - -_I._ Yet a person already adopting, or predisposed to adopt, any false -doctrine asserted by a spirit, would, it seems to me, be in danger of -receiving the spirit-assertion as _verbally_ true. - -_P._ That is to say, a person already in, or inclined to adopt, the -same error that a spirit is in, would be in danger of being confirmed, -for the time being, in that error, by listening to the spirit's -asseveration. This, I admit, is just the effect produced for a time -by the infidel word-teaching of some spirits upon those _already_ -embracing, or inclined to embrace, infidel sentiments. But if you -will look beyond this superficial aspect of the subject at its great -phenomenal and rational teachings, I think you will see that its deeper, -stronger, and more permanent tendency is, not to promote infidelity, but -ultimately to destroy it for ever. I have said before, that the real -object of this development has been very much misconceived; I tell you -now that the great object is to purge the Church itself of its latent -infidelity; to renovate the Christian faith; and to bring theology and -religion up to that high standard which will be equal to the wants of -this age, as it certainly now is not. - -_I._ Planchette, you are now touching upon a delicate subject. You -should know that we are inclined to be somewhat tenacious of our -theological and religious sentiments, and not to look with favor on any -innovations. Nevertheless, I am curious to know how you justify yourself -in this disparaging remark on the theology and religion of the day? - -_P._ I do not mean to be understood that there is not much that is true -and good in it. There is; and I would not by a single harsh word wound -the loving hearts of those who have a spark of real religious life in -them. I would bind up the bruised reed, rather than break it; I would -fan the smoking flax into a flame, rather than quench it. This is the -sentiment of all _good_ spirits, of whom I trust I am one. But let me -say most emphatically, that you want a public religion that will tower -high above all other influences whatsoever; that will predominate over -all, and ask favors of none; that will unite mankind in charity and -brotherly love, and not divide them into hostile sects, and that will -infuse its spirit into, and thus give direction to, all social and -political movements. Such a religion the world must have, or from this -hour degenerate. - -_I._ Why might not the religion of the existing churches accomplish -these results, provided its professors would manifest the requisite zeal -and energy? - -_P._ It is doing much good, and might, on the conditions you specify, -do much more. Yet the public religion has become negative to other -influences, instead of positive, as it should be, from which false -position it can not be reclaimed without such great and vital -improvements as would almost seem to amount to a renewal _ab ovo_. - -_I._ On what ground do you assert that the religion of the day stands in -a position "negative" to other influences? - -_P._ I will answer by asking: Is it not patent to you and all other -intelligent persons, that for the last hundred years the Christian -Church and theology have been standing mainly on the defensive against -the assaults of materialism and the encroachments of science? Has it -not, without adequate examination, poured contempt on Mesmerism, -denounced Phrenology, endeavored to explain away the facts of Geology -and some of the higher branches of Astronomy? Has it not looked with a -jealous eye upon the progress of science generally? and has it not -been at infinite labor in merely defending the _history_ of the life, -miracles, death, and resurrection of Christ, against the negations of -materialists, which labor might, in a great measure, have been saved if -an adequate proof could have been given of the power and omnipotent -working of a _present_ Christ? And what is the course it has taken with -reference to the present spiritual manifestations, the claims of which -it can no more overthrow than it can drag the sun from the firmament? -Now a true church--a church to which is given the power to cast out -devils, and take up serpents, or drink any deadly thing, without being -harmed--will always be able to stand on the aggressive against its -_real_ spiritual foes more than on the mere defensive, and in no case -will it ever turn its back to a fact in science. Its power will be -the power of the Holy Spirit, and not the power of worldly wealth and -fashion. When it reasons of righteousness, temperance, and judgment, -Felix will tremble, but it will never tremble before Felix, lest he -withdraw his patronage from it. - -_I._ I admit that the facts you state about the Church's warfare in -these latter days have not the most favorable aspect; but how the needed -elements of theology and religion are to be supplied by demonstrations -afforded by these latter-day phenomena, I do not yet quite see. - -_P._ If religious teachers will but study these facts, simply _as_ -facts, in all the different aspects which they have presented, from -their first appearance up to this time--study them in the same spirit -in which the chemist studies affinities, equivalents, and isomeric -compounds--in the same spirit in which the astronomer observes planets, -suns, and nebulæ--in the same spirit in which the microscopist studies -monads, blood-discs, and protoplasm--always hospitable to a new fact, -always willing to give up an old error for the sake of a new truth; -never receiving the mere _dicta_ either of spirits or men as absolute -authority, but always trusting the guidance of right reason wherever she -may lead--if, I say, they will but study these great latter-day signs, -providential warnings and monitions, in this spirit, I promise them that -they shall soon find a _rational_ and _scientific_ ground on which to -rest every real Christian doctrine, from the Incarnation to the crown of -glory--miracles, the regeneration, the resurrection, and all, with the -great advantage of having the doctrine of immortality taken out of the -sphere of _faith_ and made a _fixed fact_. Furthermore, I promise them, -on those conditions, that they shall hereafter be able to _lead_ science -rather than be dragged along unwillingly in its trail; and then science -will be forever enrolled in the service of God's religion, and no longer -in that of the world's materialism and infidelity. - -_I._ Planchette, your communication has, upon the whole, been of a most -startling character; tell me, I pray you, what do you call all this -thing, and what is to come of it? - - -WHAT THIS MODERN DEVELOPMENT IS, AND WHAT IS TO COME OF IT. - -_P._ Can you, then, bear an announcement still more startling than any I -have yet made? - -_I._ I really know not; I will try; let us have it. - -_P._ Well, then, I call it a Fourth Great Divine Epiphany or -Manifestation; or what you will perhaps better understand as one of the -developments characterizing the beginning of a Fourth Great Divine -Dispensation. What is to come of it, you will be able to judge as well -as I when you understand its nature. - -_I._ What! so great an event heralded by so questionable an -instrumentality as the rapping and table tipping spirits? - -_P._ Be calm, and at the same time be humble. Remember that it is not -unusual for God to employ the foolish things of this world to confound -the wise, and that when He comes to visit His people, He almost always -comes in disguises, and sometimes even "as a thief in the night." -Besides the spirits of which you speak are only the rough but very -useful pioneers to open a highway through which the King is coming with -innumerable hosts of angels, who, indeed, are already near you, though -you see them not. It is, indeed, an hour of temptation that has come -upon all the world; but be watchful and true, prayerful and faithful, -and fear not. - -_I._ Please tell us then, if you can, something of the nature and -objects of this new Divine Epiphany which you announce; and as you say -it is a _Fourth_, please tell us, in brief, what were the preceding -_Three_, the times of their occurrence, and how they are all -distinguished from each other. - -_P._ The _First_ appealed only to the affections and the inner sense of -the soul, and was the Dispensation of the most ancient Church, when God -walked with man in the midst of the garden of his own interior delights, -and when "Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him." But as -this sense of the indwelling presence of God was little more than a mere -_emotion_, for which, in that period of humanity's childhood, there was -no adequate, rational, and directive intelligence, men, in process of -time, began to mistake _every_ delight as being divine and holy; -thus they justified themselves in their _evil_ delights, or in the -gratification of their lusts and passions, considering even these as all -divine. [The "sons of God" marrying the "daughters of men."--_Gen._ -vi. 2-4.] And as they possessed no adequate reasoning faculty to which -appeals might be made for the correction of these tendencies, and thus -no ground of reformation, the race gradually grew to such a towering -height of wickedness that it had to be almost entirely destroyed. The -_Second_ age or Dispensation, commencing with Noah, was distinctively -characterized by the more special manifestation of God in outward types -and shadows, in the _adyta_ of temples and other consecrated places and -things, from which, as representative seats of the Divine Presence, and -through inspired men, were issued _laws_ to which terrible penalties -were annexed, as is exemplified by the law issued from Mount Sinai. -The evil passions of men were thus put under restraint, and a rational -faculty of discriminating between right and wrong--that is to say, a -_Conscience_--was at the same time developed. But the sophistical use -of these types and shadows (of which all ancient mythology is an -outgrowth), and the accompanying perversion of the general conscience -of mankind, gradually generated _Idolatry_ and _Magic_ with all their -complicated evils, against which the Jewish Church, though belonging to -the same general Dispensation, was specially instituted to react. -Furthermore, as the mere restraints of penal law necessarily imply the -existence in man of latent evils upon which the restraint is imposed, it -is manifest that such a dispensation alone could not bring human nature -to a state of perfection; and so a _Third_ was instituted, in which _God -was manifested in the flesh_. That is to say, He became incarnate in -one man who was so constituted as to embody in himself the qualitative -totality of Human Nature, that through this one Man as the Head of the -Body of which other men were the subordinate organs, He might become -united with all others--so that by the spontaneous movings of the living -Christ within, and thus in perfect freedom, they might live the divine -life in their very fleshly nature, previously the source of all sinful -lusts, but now, together with the inner man, wholly regenerated and -made anew. Here, then, is a _Trinity_ of Divine manifestations, to -the corresponding triune degrees of the nature of man--the inner or -affectional degree, the intermediate, rational, or conscience degree, -and the external, or sensuous degree. - -But while this was all that was necessary as a ground for the perfect -union of man with God, in the graduated triune degrees here mentioned, -and thus all that was necessary for his personal salvation in a sphere -of being beyond and above the earthy, it was _not_ all that was -necessary to perfect his relations to the great and mysterious realm of -forms, materials, and forces which constitute the theater of his earthly -struggles; nor was it quite all that was necessary to project and carry -into execution the plan of that true and divine structure, order and -government of human society which might be appropriately termed "the -kingdom of heaven upon earth; wherefore you have now, according to a -divine promise frequently repeated in the New Testament, a _Fourth_ -Great Divine Manifestation, which proves to be a manifestation of God in -_universal science_. - -_I._ But that "_Fourth_ Manifestation" (or "_second_ coming," as we are -in the habit of calling it), which was promised in the New Testament, -was to be attended with imposing phenomena, of which we have as yet seen -nothing. It was to be a coming of Christ "in the clouds of heaven, with -power and great glory," and the resurrection of the dead, the final -judgment, etc., were to occur at the same time? - -_P._ Certainly; but you would not, of course, insist upon putting a -strictly literal interpretation upon this language, and thus turning -it into utter and senseless absurdity. The _real "heaven"_ is not that -boundary of your vision in upper space which you call the sky, but the -interior and living reality of things. The "_clouds_" that are meant -are not those sheets of condensed aqueous vapor which float above -your head, but the material coatings which have hitherto obscured -interior realities, and through which the Divine _Logos_, the "Sun of -Righteousness," is now breaking with a "power" which moves dead matter -without visible hands, and with a "great glory," or light, which reveals -a spiritual world within the natural. The "_Resurrection_" is not the -opening of the literal graves, and re-assembling of the identical flesh, -blood, and bones of dead men and nations which, during hundreds and -even thousands of years, have been combining and re-combining with the -universal elements; but it is the re-establishment of the long-suspended -relations of spirits with the earthly sphere of being, by which they -are enabled to freely manifest themselves again to their friends in the -earthly life, and often to receive great benefits in return; and if -you do not yet see, as accompanying and growing out of all this, the -beginning of an ordeal that is to try souls, institutions, creeds, -churches, and nations, as by fire, you had better wait awhile for a more -full exposition of the "_last judgment_." People should learn that the -kingdom of God comes not to _outward_ but to _inward_ observation, and -that as for the prophetic words which have been spoken on this subject, -"they are spirit, and they are life." - -_I._ And what of the changed aspects of science that is to grow out of -this alleged peculiar Divine manifestation? - -_P._ To answer that question fully would require volumes. Be content, -then, for the present, with the following brief words: Hitherto science -has been almost wholly materialistic in its tendencies, having nothing -to do with spiritual things, but ignoring and casting doubts upon them; -while _spiritual_ matters, on the other hand, have been regarded by the -Church wholly as matters of faith with which science has nothing to -do. But through these modern manifestations, God is providentially -furnishing to the world all the elements of a spiritual science which, -when established and recognized, will be the stand-point from which -all physical science will be viewed. It will then be more distinctly -known that all external and visible forms and motions originate from -invisible, spiritual, and ultimately divine causes; that between cause -and effect there is always a necessary and intimate _correspondence_; -and hence that the whole outer universe is but the symbol and sure -index of an invisible and _vastly more real_ universe within. From -this unitary basis of thought the different sciences as now correctly -understood may be co-related in harmonic order as One Grand Science, the -_known_ of which, by the rule of correspondence, will lead by easy clews -to the _unknown_. The true structure and government of human society -will be clearly hinted by the structure and laws of the universe, -and especially by that _microcosm_, or little universe, the human -organization. All the great stirring questions of the day, including the -questions of suffrage, woman's rights, the relations between labor and -capital, and the questions of general political reform, will be put into -the way of an easy and speedy solution; and mankind will be ushered into -the light of a brighter day, socially, politically, and religiously, -than has ever yet dawned upon the world. - -_I._ My invisible friend, the wonderful nature of your communication -excites my curiosity to know your name ere we part. Will you have the -kindness to gratify me in this particular? - -_P._ That I may not do. My name is of no consequence in any respect. -Besides, if I should give it, you might, unconsciously to yourself, be -influenced to attach to it the weight of a personal authority, which -is specially to be avoided in communications of this kind. There is -nothing to prevent deceiving spirits from assuming great names, and you -have no way of holding them responsible for their statements. With -thinkers--minds that are developed to a vigorous maturity--the truth -itself should be its only and sufficient authority. If what I have told -you appears intrinsically rational, logical, scientific, in harmony with -known facts, and appeals to your convictions with the force of truth, -accept it; if not, reject it; but I advise you not to reject it before -giving it a candid and careful examination. I may tell you more at some -future time, but for the present, farewell. - - -CONCLUSION. - -Here the interview ended. It was a part of my original plan, after -reviewing various theories on this mysterious subject, to propound one -of my own; but this interview with Planchette has changed my mind. -I confess I am amazed and confounded, and have nothing to say. The -commendable motive which the invisible intelligence, whatever it may -be, assigned in the last paragraph for refusing to give its name, -also prompts me to withhold my own name from this publication for the -present, and likewise to abstain from the explanation I intended to -give of certain particulars as to the manner and circumstances of this -communication. On its own intrinsic merits alone it should be permitted -to rest; and as I certainly feel that my own conceptions have been -greatly enlarged, not to say that I have been greatly instructed, I give -it forth in the hope that it may have the same effect upon my readers. - - -HOW TO WORK PLANCHETTE. - -We have received letters from different persons who have tried -Planchette, but failed to make her work. Our correspondents wish to know -the reason of the failure, and what conditions must be complied with on -their part to remedy the difficulty. We reply by the insertion of the -following rules, which should be read in connection with the descriptive -paragraph near the commencement of this pamphlet: - - =RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN USING PLANCHETTE.= - - For some persons (strong magnetizers), "Planchette" moves at once, - and for one such person it moves rapidly and writes distinctly. With - such a person it is not necessary for another to put their hands on; - it will operate alone for them, and better than with two persons. - - It has been noticed that one pair of male and one pair of female - hands form a more perfect Battery to work "Planchette" than two - males or two females would do. - - It has also been noticed that one light and one dark complexioned - person are better than two light or two dark persons would be - together; also, that two females, with their hands on together, are - better than the hands of two males would be. - - If, after observing these rules, "Planchette" should refuse to - write, or move, different persons must try until the necessary - Battery is formed to make it operate. (It is here remarked that the - average number of persons able to work "Planchette" is about five - to eight; but it is still possible, but improbable, to have an - assemblage of eight persons and not any be able to make "Planchette" - go.) After it is ascertained who are the proper persons to move - "Planchette," no end of fun, amusement, and possibly instruction, - will be afforded. - -According to the experience of the present writer, the proportional -number of those for whom Planchette will work promptly, and from the -first, is not quite so great as here given. But by perseverance through -repeated trials, under the right mental and physical conditions, -most persons may at length obtain responsive movements, more or less -satisfactory. Planchette, however (or the intelligence which moves her), -likes to be treated with a decent respect, and has a repugnance to -confusion. Ask her, therefore, none but respectful questions, and _only -one of these at a time_; and when there are several persons in the -company anxious to obtain responses, while one is consulting let all -the others keep _perfectly quiet_, and each patiently await his turn. -A non-compliance with these conditions generally spoils the experiment. - - - - -SPIRITUALISM. - -BY MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. - - [The following was written for, and published in the _Christian - Union_. It was reprinted in THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL in 1870. We - present it here, as in some measure explanatory of all the matter - which precedes it. There are many who do not accept all that is - claimed to be true, in Modern Spiritualism, who will entertain the - moderate views expressed by The Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. - EDITOR.] - - -It is claimed that there are in the United States four million -Spiritualists. The perusal of the advertisements in any one of the -weekly newspapers devoted to this subject will show that there is a -system organized all over the Union to spread these sentiments. From -fifty to a hundred, and sometimes more, of lecturers advertise in a -single paper, to speak up and down the land; and lyceums--progressive -lyceums for children, spiritual pic-nics, and other movements of the -same kind, are advertised. This kind of thing has been going on from -year to year, and the indications now are that it is increasing rather -than diminishing. - -It is claimed by the advocates of these sentiments that the number of -those who boldly and openly profess them is exceeded by the greater -number of those who are _secretly_ convinced, but who are unwilling to -encounter the degree of obloquy or ridicule which they would probably -meet on an open avowal. - -All these things afford matter for grave thought to those to whom none -of the great and deep movements of society are indifferent. When we -think how very tender and sacred are the feelings with which this has -to do--what power and permanency they always must have, we can not but -consider such a movement of society entitled at least to the most -serious and thoughtful consideration. - -Our own country has just been plowed and seamed by a cruel war. The -bullet that has pierced thousands of faithful breasts has cut the -nerve of life and hope in thousands of homes. What yearning toward the -invisible state, what agonized longings must have gone up as the sound -of mournful surges, during these years succeeding the war! Can we wonder -that any form of religion, or of superstition, which professes in the -least to mitigate the anguish of that cruel separation, and to break -that dreadful silence by any voice or token, has hundreds of thousands -of disciples? If on review of the spiritualistic papers and pamphlets we -find them full of vague wanderings and wild and purposeless flights of -fancy, can we help pitying that craving of the human soul which all this -represents and so imperfectly supplies? - -The question arises, Has not the Protestant religion neglected to -provide some portion of the true spiritual food of the human soul, and -thus produced this epidemic craving? It is often held to be a medical -fact that morbid appetites are the blind cry of nature for something -needed in the bodily system which is lacking. The wise nurse or mother -does not hold up to ridicule the poor little culprit who secretly picks -a hole in the plastering that he may eat the lime; she considers within -herself what is wanting in this little one's system, and how this lack -shall be more judiciously and safely supplied. If it be phosphate of -lime for the bones which nature is thus blindly crying for, let us give -it to him more palatably and under more attractive forms. - -So with the epidemic cravings of human society. The wise spiritual -pastor or master would inquire what is wanting to these poor souls that -they are thus with hungry avidity rushing in a certain direction, -and devouring with unhealthy eagerness all manner of crudities and -absurdities. - -May it not be spiritual food, of which their mother, the Church, has -abundance, which she has neglected to set before them? - -Now, if we compare the religious teachings of the present century with -those of any past one, we shall find that the practical spiritualistic -belief taught by the Bible has to a great extent dropped out of it. - -Let us begin with the time of Jesus Christ. Nothing is more evident -in reading his life than that he was acting all the time in view of -_unseen_ and spiritual influences, which were more pronounced and -operative to him than any of the _visible_ and materialistic phenomena -of the present life. In this respect the conduct of Christ, if -imitated in the present day, would subject a man to the imputation of -superstition or credulity. He imputed things to the direct agency of -invisible spirits acting in the affairs of life, that we, in the same -circumstances, attribute only to the constitutional liabilities of the -individual acted upon by force of circumstances. - -As an example of this, let us take his language toward the Apostle -Peter. With the habits of modern Christianity, the caution of Christ to -Peter would have been expressed much on this fashion: "Simon, Simon, -thou art impulsive, and liable to be carried away with sudden -impressions. The Jews are about to make an attack on me which will -endanger thee." - -This was the exterior view of the situation, but our Lord did not take -it. He said, "Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have thee that he may -sift thee as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail -not." This Satan was a person ever present in the mind of Christ. He -was ever in his view as the invisible force by which all the visible -antagonistic forces were ruled. When his disciples came home in triumph -to relate the successes of their first preaching tour, Christ said, "I -beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." When the Apostle Peter -rebuked him for prophesying the tragical end of his earthly career, -Christ answered not him, but the invisible spirit whose influence over -him he recognized: "Get thee behind me, Satan! Thou art an offense unto -me." - -When the Saviour's last trial approached, he announced the coming crisis -in the words, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." -When he gave himself into the hands of the Sanhedrim, he said, "This is -your hour and that of the powers of darkness." When disputing with the -unbelieving Jews, he told them that they were of their father, the -devil; that he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the -truth; that when he spoke a lie he spoke of his own, for he was a liar, -and the father of lies. - -In short, the life of Christ, as viewed by himself, was not a conflict -with enemies _in the flesh_, but with an invisible enemy, artful, -powerful, old as the foundations of the world, and ruling by his -influences over evil spirits and men in the flesh. - -The same was the doctrine taught by the Apostles. In reading the -Epistles we see in the strongest language how the whole visible world -was up in arms against them. St. Paul gives this catalogue of his -physical and worldly sufferings, proving his right to apostleship mainly -by perseverance in persecution. "In labors more abundant, in stripes -above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft; of the Jews five -times received I forty stripes save one; thrice was I beaten with rods, -once was I stoned; thrice have I suffered shipwreck--a night and a day -have I been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of water, in -perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the -heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils -among false brethren." - -One would say with all this, there was a sufficient array of physical -and natural causes against St. Paul to stand for something. In modern -language--yea, in the language of good modern Christians--it would be -said "What is the use of taking into account any devil or any invisible -spirits to account for Paul's trials and difficulties?--it is enough -that the whole world has set itself against what he teaches--Jew and -Gentile are equally antagonistic to it." - -But St. Paul says in the face of all this, "We are not wrestling with -flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers and the leaders of -the darkness of this world, and against wicked spirits in high places;" -and St. Peter, recognizing the sufferings and persecutions of the early -Christians, says, "Be sober, be vigilant." Why? "Because your adversary, -the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." - -In like manner we find in the discourses of our Lord and the Apostles -the recognition of a counteracting force of good spirits. When -Nathaniel, one of his early disciples, was astonished at his spiritual -insight, he said to him, "Thou shalt see greater things than these! -Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and angels of God ascending and -descending on the Son of man." When he spoke of the importance of little -children, he announced that each one of them had a guardian angel who -beheld the face of God. When he was transfigured on the Mount, Moses and -Elijah appeared in glory, and talked with him of his death that he was -to accomplish at Jerusalem. In the hour of his agony in the garden, an -angel appeared and ministered to him. When Peter drew a sword to defend -him, he said, "Put up thy sword. Thinkest thou that I can not now pray -to my Father, and he will give me more than twelve legions of angels?" - -Thus, between two contending forces of the invisible world was -Christianity inaugurated. During the primitive ages the same language -was used by the Fathers of the church, and has ever since been -traditional. - -But we need not say that the fashion of modern Protestant theology and -the custom of modern Protestant Christianity have been less and less of -this sort. - -We hear from good Christians, and from Christian ministers, talk of this -sort: A great deal is laid to the poor devil that he never thought of. -If men would take care of their own affairs the devil will let them -alone. We hear it said that there is no _evidence_ of the operation -of invisible spirits in the course of human affairs. It is all a mere -matter of physical, mental, and moral laws working out their mission -with unvarying certainty. - -But is it a fact, then, that the great enemy whom Christ so constantly -spoke of is dead? Are the principalities and powers and rulers of the -darkness of this world, whom Paul declared to be the real opponents that -the Christian has to arm against, all dead? If that great enemy whom -Christ declared the source of all opposition to himself is yet living, -with his nature unchanged, there is as much reason to look for his -action behind the actions of men and the vail of material causes as -there was in Christ's time; and if the principalities and powers and -rulers of the darkness of this world, that Paul speaks of, have not -died, then they are now, as they were in his day, the _principal_ thing -the Christian should keep in mind and against which he should arm. - -And, on the other hand, if it is true, as Christ declared, that every -little child in him has a guardian angel, who always beholds the -Father's face; if, as St. Paul says, it is true that the angels all are -"ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs -of salvation," then it follows that every one of us is being constantly -watched over, cared for, warned, guided, and ministered to by invisible -spirits. - -Now let us notice in what regions and in what classes of mind the modern -spiritualistic religion has most converts. - -To a remarkable degree it takes minds which have been denuded of all -faith in spirits; minds which are empty, swept of all spiritual belief, -are the ones into which any amount of spirits can enter and take -possession. - -That is to say, the human soul, in a state of starvation for one of its -normal and most necessary articles of food, devours right and left every -marvel of modern spiritualism, however crude. - -The old angelology of the Book of Daniel and the Revelation is poetical -and grand. Daniel sees lofty visions of beings embodying all the grand -forces of nature. He is told of invisible princes who rule the destiny -of nations! Michael, the guardian prince of the Jews, is hindered -twenty-one days from coming, at the prayer of Daniel, by the conflicting -princes of Media and Persia. In the New Testament, how splendid is the -description of the angel of the resurrection! "And behold, there was a -great earthquake, and the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and -came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it! His -countenance was as the lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and -for fear of him the keepers did shake and become as dead men." We have -here spiritualistic phenomena worthy of a God--worthy our highest -conceptions--elevated, poetic, mysterious, grand! - -And communities, and systems of philosophy and theology, which have -explained all the supernatural art of the Bible, or which are always -apologizing for it, blushing for it, ignoring and making the least they -can of it--such communities will go into spiritualism by hundreds and -by thousands. Instead of angels, whose countenance is as the lightning, -they will have ghosts and tippings and tappings and rappings. Instead -of the great beneficent miracles recorded in Scripture, they will have -senseless clatterings of furniture and breaking of crockery. Instead of -Christ's own promise, "He that keepeth my commandments, I will love him -and manifest _myself_," they will have manifestations from all sorts of -anonymous spirits, good, bad, and indifferent. - -Well, then, what is the way to deal with spiritualism? Precisely what -the hunter uses when he stands in the high, combustible grass and sees -the fire sweeping around him on the prairies. He sets fire to the grass -all around him, and it burns _from_ instead of _to_ him, and thus he -fights fire with fire. Spiritualism, in its crudities and errors, can be -met only in that way. The true spiritualism of the Bible is what will be -the only remedy for the cravings of that which is false and delusive. - -Some years ago the writer of this, in deep sorrow for the sudden death -of a son, received the following letter from a Roman Catholic priest, -in a neighboring town. He was a man eminent for holiness of life and -benevolence, and has since entered the rest of the blessed. - - DEAR MADAM: In the deep affliction that has recently visited you I - implore you to remember well that there is a communion of spirits of - the departed just, which death can not prevent, and which, with - prayer, can impart much consolation. This, with the condolence of - every parent and child in my flock, I beg leave to offer you, - wishing, in the mean time, to assure you of my heartfelt regret and - sympathy. - - Yours, very truly, JAMES O'DONNELL, - Catholic Pastor, Lawrence. - -What is this communion which death can not prevent, and which with -prayer can impart consolation? It is known in the Apostles' Creed as - - "THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS." - -When it is considered what social penalties attach to the profession of -this faith, one must admit that only some very strong cause can induce -persons of standing and established reputation openly to express beliefs -of this kind. The penalty is loss of confidence and being reputed of -unsound mind. It is not an easy thing to profess belief in anything -which destroys one's reputation for sanity, yet undoubtedly this is the -result. - -It must also be admitted that most of the literature which has come into -existence in this way is of a doubtful and disreputable kind, and of a -tendency to degrade rather than elevate our conceptions of a spiritual -state. - -Yet such is the hunger, the longing, the wild craving of the human soul -for the region of future immortality, its home-sickness for its future -home, its perishing anguish of desire for the beloved ones who have -been torn away from it, and to whom in every nerve it still throbs and -bleeds, that professed words and messages from that state, however -unworthy, are met with a trembling agony of eagerness, a willingness to -be deceived, most sorrowful to witness. - -But any one who judges of the force of this temptation merely by what is -published in the _Banner of Light_, and other papers of that class, has -little estimate of what there is to be considered in the way of existing -phenomena under this head. - -The cold scientists who, without pity and without sympathy, have -supposed that they have had under their dissecting knives the very -phenomena which have deluded their fellows, mistake. They have not seen -them, and in the cold, unsympathizing mood of science, they never can -see them. The experiences that have most weight with multitudes who -believe more than they dare to utter, are secrets deep as the grave, -sacred as the innermost fibers of their souls--they can not bring their -voices to utter them except in some hour of uttermost confidence and to -some friend of tried sympathy. They know what they have seen and what -they have heard. They know the examinations they have made they know the -inexplicable results, and, like Mary of old, they keep all these sayings -and ponder them in their hearts. They have no sympathy with the vulgar, -noisy, outward phenomena of tippings and rappings and signs and -wonders. They have no sympathy with the vulgar and profane attacks on -the Bible, which form part of the utterances of modern seers; but they -can not forget, and they can not explain things which in sacred solitude -or under circumstances of careful observation have come under their -own notice. They have no wish to make converts--they shrink from -conversation, they wait for light; but when they hear all these things -scoffed at, they think within themselves--Who knows? - -We have said that the strong, unregulated, and often false -spiritualistic current of to-day is a result of the gradual departure -of Christendom from the true supernaturalism of primitive ages. We have -shown how Christ and his Apostles always regarded the invisible actors -on the stage of human existence as more powerful than the visible ones; -that they referred to their influence over the human spirit and over the -forces of nature, things which modern rationalism refers only to natural -laws. We can not illustrate the departure of modern society from -primitive faith better than in a single instance--a striking one. - -The Apostles' Creed is the best formula of Christian faith--it is common -to the Greek, the Roman, the Reformed Churches, and published by our -Pilgrim Fathers in the New England Primer in connection with the -Assembly's Catechism. It contains the following profession: - - "I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church; the - Communion of Saints; the Forgiveness of Sins," etc. - -In this sentence, according to Bishop Pearson on the Creed, are -announced four important doctrines: 1. The Holy Ghost; 2. The Holy -Catholic Church; 3. The Communion of Saints; 4. The Forgiveness of Sins. - -To each one of these the good Bishop devotes some twenty or thirty pages -of explanation. - -But it is customary with many clergymen in reading to slur the second -and third articles together, thus: "I believe in the Holy Catholic -Church, the communion of saints"--that is to say, I believe in the Holy -Catholic Church, which is the communion of saints. - -Now, in the standard edition of the English Prayer Book, and in all the -editions published from it, the separate articles of faith are divided -by semicolons--thus: "The Holy Ghost; The Holy Catholic Church; The -Communion of Saints." But in our American editions the punctuation is -altered to suit a modern rationalistic idea--thus: "The Holy Catholic -Church, the Communion of Saints." - -The doctrine of the Communion of Saints, as held by primitive -Christians, and held still by the Roman and Greek Churches, is thus -dropped out of view in the modern Protestant Episcopal reading. - -But what is this doctrine? Bishop Pearson devotes a long essay to it, -ending thus: - - Every one may learn by this what he is to understand by this part of - the article in which he professeth to believe in the Communion of - Saints. - -Thereby he is conceived to express thus much: - - "I am fully persuaded of this, as a necessary and infallible truth, - that such persons as are truly sanctified in the Church of Christ, - while they live in the crooked generations of men and struggle with - all the miseries of this world, have fellowship with God the Father, - God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost ... that they partake of the - kindness and care of the blessed angels who take delight in - ministrations for their benefit, that ... they have an intimate - union and conjunction with all the saints on earth as being members - of Christ; NOR IS THIS UNION SEPARATED BY THE DEATH OF ANY, but they - have communion with all the saints who, from the death of Abel, have - departed this life in the fear of God, and now enjoy the presence of - the Father, and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. - - "_And thus I believe in the Communion of Saints._" - -Now, we appeal to the consciences of modern Christians whether this -statement of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints represents the -doctrine that they have heard preached from the pulpit, and whether it -has been made practically so much the food and nourishment of their -souls as to give them all the support under affliction and bereavement -which it certainly is calculated to do? - -Do they really believe themselves to partake in their life-struggle -of the kindness and care of the blessed angels who take delight in -ministrations for their benefit? Do they believe they are united by -intimate bonds with all Christ's followers? Do they believe that the -union is not separated by the death of any of them, but that they have -communion with all the saints who have departed this life in the faith -and now enjoy the presence of the Father? - -Would not a sermon conceived in the terms of this standard treatise -excite an instant sensation as tending toward the errors of -Spiritualism? And let us recollect that the Apostles' Creed from which -this is taken was as much a standard with our Pilgrim Fathers as the -Cambridge Platform. - -If we look back to Cotton Mather's Magnalia, we shall find that the -belief in the ministration of angels and the conflict of invisible -spirits, good and evil, in the affairs of men, was practical and -influential in the times of our fathers. - -If we look at the first New England Systematic Theology, that of Dr. -Dwight, we shall find the subject of Angels and Devils and their -ministry among men fully considered. - -In the present theological course at Andover that subject is wholly -omitted. What may be the custom in other theological seminaries of the -present day we will not say. - -We will now show what the teaching and the feeling of the primitive -church was on the subject of the departed dead and the ministrations of -angels. In _Coleman's Christian Antiquities_, under the head of Death -and Burial of the Early Christians, we find evidence of the great and -wide difference which existed between the Christian community and all -the other world, whether Jews or heathen, in regard to the vividness of -their conceptions of immortality. The Christian who died was not counted -as lost from their number--the fellowship with him was still unbroken. -The theory and the practice of the Christians was to look on the -departed as no otherwise severed from them than the man who has gone -to New York is divided from his family in Boston. He is not within the -scope of the senses, he can not be addressed, but he is the same person, -with the same heart, still living and loving, and partners with them of -all joys and sorrows. - -But while they considered personal identity and consciousness unchanged -and the friend as belonging to them, as much after death as before, -they regarded his death as an advancement, an honor, a glory. It was -customary, we are told, to celebrate the day of his death as his -birth-day--the day when he was born to new immortal life. Tertullian, -who died in the year 220 in his treatise called the _Soldier's -Chaplet_, says: "We make anniversary oblations for the dead--for their -birth-days," meaning the day of their death. In another place he says, -"It was the practice of a widow to pray for the soul of her deceased -husband, desiring on his behalf present refreshment or rest, and a part -in the first resurrection," and offering annually for him oblation on -the day of his _falling asleep_. By this gentle term the rest of the -body in the grave was always spoken of among Christians. It is stated -that on these anniversary days of commemorating the dead they were used -to make a feast, inviting both clergy and people, but especially the -poor and needy, the widows and orphans, that it might not only be a -memorial of rest to the dead, but a memorial of a sweet savor in the -sight of God. - -A Christian funeral was in every respect a standing contrast to the -lugubrious and depressing gloom of modern times. Palms and olive -branches were carried in the funeral procession, and the cypress -was rejected as symbolizing gloom. Psalms and hymns of a joyful and -triumphant tone were sung around the corpse while it was kept in the -house and on the way to the grave. St. Chrysostom, speaking of funeral -services, quotes passages from the psalms and hymns that were in common -use, thus: - - "What mean our psalms and hymns? Do we not glorify God and give him - thanks that he hath crowned him that has departed, that he hath - delivered him from trouble, that he hath set him free from all fear? - Consider what thou singest at the time. 'Turn again to thy rest, O - my soul, for the Lord hath rewarded thee;' and again: 'I will fear - no evil because thou art with me;' and again: 'Thou art my refuge - from the affliction that compasseth me about.' Consider what these - psalms mean. If thou believest the things which thou sayest to be - true, why dost thou weep and lament and make a pageantry and a mock - of thy singing? If thou believest them _not_ to be true, why dost - thou play the hypocrite so much as to sing?" - -Coleman says, also: - - "The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered at funerals and - often at the grave itself. By this rite it was professed that the - communion of saints was still perpetuated between the living and the - dead. It was a favorite idea that both still continued members of - the same mystical body, the same on earth and in heaven."--_Antiq., - p. 413._ - -Coleman says, also, that the early Christian utterly discarded all the -Jewish badges and customs of mourning, such as sackcloth and ashes and -rent garments, and severely censured the Roman custom of wearing black. - - St. Augustine says: "Why should we disfigure ourselves with black, - unless we would imitate unbelieving nations, not only in their - wailing for the dead, but also in their mourning apparel? Be - assured, these are foreign and unlawful usages." - - He says, also: "Our brethren are not to be mourned for being - liberated from this world when we know that they are not _om_itted - but _pre_mitted, receding from us only that they may precede us, so - that journeying and voyaging before us they are to be _desired_ but - not lamented. Neither should we put on black raiment for them when - they have already taken their white garments; and occasion should - not be given to the Gentiles that they should rightly and justly - reprove us, that we grieve over those as extinct and lost who we say - are now alive with God, and the faith that we profess by voice and - speech we deny by the testimony of our heart and bosom." - -Are not many of the usages and familiar forms of speech of modern -Christendom a return to old heathenism? Are they not what St. Augustine -calls a repudiation of the Christian faith? The black garments, the -funeral dreariness, the mode of speech which calls a departed friend -lost--have they not become the almost invariable rule in Christian life? - -So really and truly did the first Christians believe that their friends -were still one with themselves, that they considered them even in their -advanced and glorified state a subject of prayers. - -Prayer for each other was to the first Christians a reality. The -intimacy of their sympathy, the entire oneness of their life, made -prayer for each other a necessity, and they prayed for each other -instinctively as they prayed for themselves. So, St. Paul says "_Always_ -in _every_ prayer of mine making request for you always with joy." -Christians are commanded without ceasing to pray for each other. As -their faith forbade them to consider the departed as lost or ceasing to -exist, or in any way being out of their fellowship and communion, it did -not seem to them strange or improper to yield to that impulse of the -loving heart which naturally breathes to the Heavenly Father the name of -its beloved. On the contrary, it was a custom in the earliest Christian -times, in the solemn service of the Eucharist, to commend to God in a -memorial prayer the souls of their friends _departed_, but not _dead_. -In Coleman's _Antiquities_, and other works of the same kind, many -instances of this are given. We select some: - -Arnobius, in his treatise against the heathen writers, probably in 305, -speaking of the prayers offered after the consecration of the elements -in the Lord's Supper, says "that Christians prayed for pardon and peace -in behalf of the living and dead." Cyril, of Jerusalem, reports the -prayer made after consecrating the elements in Holy Communion in these -words: - - "We offer this sacrifice in memory of those who have fallen asleep - before us, first patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that - God by their prayers and supplications may receive our supplications - and those we pray for, our holy fathers and bishops, and all that - have fallen asleep before us, believing it is of great advantage to - their souls to be prayed for while the holy and tremendous sacrifice - lies upon the altar." - -A memorial of this custom has come into the Protestant Church in the -Episcopal Eucharistic service where occur these words: "And we also -bless thy Holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith -and fear, beseeching Thee to give us grace so to follow their good -examples, that we with them may be partakers of thy Heavenly Kingdom." -It will be seen here the progress of an idea, its corruption and its -reform. - -The original idea with the primitive Christian was this: "My friend is -neither dead nor changed. He is only gone before me, and is promoted to -higher joy; but he is still mine and I am his. Still can I pray for him, -still can he pray for me; and as when he was here on earth we can be -mutually helped by each other's prayers." - -Out of this root--so simple and so sweet--grew idolatrous exaggerations -of saint worship and a monstrous system of bargain and sale of prayers -for the dead. The Reformation swept all this away--and, as usual with -reformations, swept away a portion of the primitive truth--but it -retained still the Eucharistic memorial of departed friends as a -fragment of primitive simplicity. - -The Church, furthermore, appointed three festivals of commemoration of -these spiritual members of the great Church Invisible with whom they -held fellowship--the festivals of All Souls, of All Angels, of All -Saints. - -Two of these are still retained in the Episcopal Church the feast of -St. Michael and All Angels, and the feast of All Saints. These days -are derived from those yearly anniversaries which were common in the -primitive ages. - -[Here we have a formal deprecation of the tendency of modern orthodoxy -to withdraw from what was once regarded as a proper religious belief and -sentiment, and which modern Spiritualists warmly accept, and make one of -the chief grounds for their doctrine of intercommunication between the -departed dead and the living. We expect to give our readers other papers -by Mrs. Stowe in continuation of her discussion on the subject. - - * * * * * - -In the following letter, or extract from a letter, from Mr. Andrew -Jackson Davis, one of the leading lights and exponents of Spiritualism -at the present day, we have a voice from the _inside_, furnishing some -information with regard to the state of spiritualistic affairs in -America, and some of the expected results of the movement.] - -"Spiritualism, for the most part, is a _shower_ from the realm of -intelligences and uncultured affections. It is rapidly irrigating and -fertilizing everything that has root and the seed-power to grow. It -is starting up the half-dead trees of Sectarianism, causing the most -miserable weeds to grow rapid and rank, and of course, attracting very -general attention to religious feelings and super-terrene existences. - -"As an effect of this spiritualistic rain, you may look for an -immense harvest of both wheat and tares--the grandest growths in great -principles and ideas on the one hand, and a fearful crop of crudities -and disorganizing superstitions on the other. There will be seen -floating on the flood many of our most sacred institutions. Old -wagon-ruts, long-forgotten cow-tracks, every little hole and corner in -the old highways, will be filled to the brim with the rain. You will -hardly know the difference between the true springs and the flowing -mud-pools visible on every side. Many noble minds will stumble as they -undertake to ford the new streams which will come up to their very -door-sills, if not into their sacred and established habitations. -Perhaps lives may be lost; perhaps homes may be broken up; perhaps -fortunes may be sacrificed; for who ever heard of a great flood, a storm -of much power, or an earthquake, that did not do one, or two, or _all_ -of these deplorable things? Spiritualism is, indeed, all and everything -which its worst enemies or best friends ever said of it;--a great rain -from heaven, a storm of violence, a power unto salvation, a destroyer -and a builder too--each, and all, and everything good, bad, and -indifferent; for which every one, nevertheless, should be thankful, as -eventually all will be when the evil subsides, when the severe rain is -over, and the clouds dispersed--when even the blind will see with new -eyes, the lame walk, and the mourners of the world be made to rejoice -with joy unspeakable. - -"Of course, my kind brother, you know that I look upon 'wisdom' -organized into our daily lives, and 'love' inspiring every heart, as the -only true heaven appointed saviour of mankind. And all spiritual growth -and intellectual advancement in the goodnesses and graces of this -redeemer I call an application of the Harmonial Philosophy. But I find, -as most likely you do, that it is as hard to get the Spiritualists to -become Harmonial Philosophers as to induce ardent Bible-believers to -daily practice the grand essentials which dwell in the warm heart of -Christianity." - - * * * * * - -It is not long since the writer was in conversation with a very -celebrated and popular minister of the modern Church, who has for -years fulfilled a fruitful ministry in New England. He was speaking of -modern Spiritualism as one of the most dangerous forms of error--as an -unaccountable infatuation. The idea was expressed by a person present -that it was after all true that the spirits of the departed friends were -in reality watching over our course and interested in our affairs in -this world. - -The clergyman, who has a fair right, by reason of his standing and -influence to represent the New England pulpit, met that idea by a prompt -denial. "A pleasing sentimental dream," he said, "very apt to mislead, -and for which there is no scriptural and rational foundation." We have -shown in our last article what the very earliest Christians were in -the habit of thinking with regard to the unbroken sympathy between the -living and those called dead, and how the Church by very significant and -solemn acts pronounced them to be not only alive, but alive in a fuller, -higher, and more joyful sense than those on earth. - -We may remember that among the primitive Christians the celebration of -the Lord's Supper was not as in our modern times a rare and unfrequent -occurrence, coming at intervals of two, three, and even six months, but -that it occurred every Sunday, and on many of the solemn events of life, -as funerals and marriages, and that one part of the celebration always -consisted in recognizing by a solemn prayer the unbroken unity of the -saints below and the saints in heaven. We may remember, too, that it was -a belief among them that angels were invisibly present, witnessing and -uniting with the eucharistic memorial--a belief of which we still have -the expression in that solemn portion of the Episcopal communion service -which says, "Wherefore with angels and archangels, and with all the -company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy Holy Name." - -This part of the eucharistic service was held by the first Christians -to be the sacred and mysterious point of confluence when the souls of -saints on earth and the blessed in heaven united. So says Saint -Chrysostom: - - "The seraphim above sing the holy Trisagion hymn; the holy - congregation of men on earth send up the same; the general assembly - of celestial and earthly creatures join together; there is one - thanksgiving, one exultation; one choir of men and angels rejoicing - together." - -And in another place he says: - - "The martyrs are now rejoicing in concert, partaking of the mystical - songs of the heavenly choir. For if while they were in the body - whenever they communicated in the sacred mysteries they made part of - the choir, singing with the cherubim, 'holy, holy, holy,' as ye all - that are initiated in the holy mysteries know; much more now, being - joined with those whose partners they were in the earthly choir, - they do with greater freedom partake of those solemn glorifications - of God above." - -The continued identity, interest and unbroken oneness of the departed -with the remaining was a topic frequently insisted on among early -Christian ministers--it was one reason of the rapid spread of -Christianity. Converts flocked in clouds to the ranks of a people who -professed to have vanquished death--in whose inclosure love was forever -safe, and who by so many sacred and solemn acts of recognition consoled -the bereaved heart with this thought, that their beloved, though -unseen, was still living and loving--still watching, waiting, and caring -for them. - -Modern rationalistic religion says: "We do not know anything about -them--God has taken them: of them and their estate we know nothing: -whether they remember us, whether they know what we are doing, whether -they care for us, whether we shall ever see them again to know them, are -all questions vailed in inscrutable mystery. We must give our friends up -wholly and take refuge in God." - -But St. Augustine, speaking on the same subject, says: - - "Therefore, if we wish to hold communion with the saints in eternal - life we must think much of imitating them. They ought to recognize - in us something of their virtues, that they may better offer their - supplications to God for us. These [virtues] are the foot-prints - which the blessed returning to their country have left, that we - shall follow their path to joy. Why should we not hasten and run - after them that we too may see our fatherland? There a great crowd - of dear ones are awaiting us, of parents, brethren, children, a - multitudinous host are longing for us--now secure of their own - safety, and anxious only for our salvation." - -Now let us take the case of some poor, widowed mother, from whose heart -has been torn an only son--pious, brave, and beautiful--her friend, her -pride, her earthly hope--struck down suddenly as by a lightning stroke. -The physical shock is terrible--the cessation of communion, if the -habits of intercourse and care, if the habit, so sweet to the Christian, -of praying for that son, must all cease. We can see now what the -primitive Church would have said to such a mother: "Thy son is _not_ -dead. To the Christian there is no death--follow his footsteps, imitate -his prayerfulness and watchfulness, and that he may the better pray for -thee, keep close in the great communion of saints." Every Sabbath would -bring to her the eucharistic feast, when the Church on earth and the -Church in heaven held their reunion, where "with angels and archangels, -and all the company of heaven," they join their praises! and she -might feel herself drawing near to her blessed one in glory. How -consoling--how comforting such Church fellowship! - -A mother under such circumstances would feel no temptation to resort to -doubtful, perplexing sources, to glean here and there fragments of that -consolation which the Church was ordained to give. In every act of life -the primitive Church recognized that the doors of heaven were open -through her ordinances and the communion of love with the departed blest -unbroken. - -It has been our lot to know the secret history of many who are not -outwardly or professedly Spiritualists--persons of sober and serious -habits of thought, of great self-culture and self-restraint, to whom it -happened after the death of a friend to meet accidentally and without -any seeking or expecting on their part with spiritualistic phenomena of -a very marked type. These are histories that never will be unvailed to -the judgment of a scoffing and unsympathetic world; that in the very -nature of the case must forever remain secret; yet they have brought to -hearts bereaved and mourning that very consolation which the Christian -Church ought to have afforded them, and which the primitive Church so -amply provided. - -In conversation with such, we have often listened to remarks like this: -"I do not seek these things--I do not search out mediums nor attend -spiritual circles. I have attained all I wish to know, and am quite -indifferent now whether I see another manifestation." "And what," we -inquired, "is this something that you have attained?" "Oh, I feel -perfectly certain that my friend is not dead--but alive, unchanged, in -a region of joy and blessedness, expecting me, and praying for me, and -often ministering to me." - -Compare this with the language of St. Augustine, and we shall see that -it is simply a return to the stand-point of the primitive Church. - -Among the open and professed Spiritualists are some men and women of -pure and earnest natures, and seriously anxious to do good, and who -ought to be distinguished from the charlatans who have gone into it -merely from motives of profit and self-interest. Now it is to be -remarked that this higher class of spiritualists, with one voice, -declare that the subject of spiritual communication is embarrassed with -formidable difficulties. They admit that lying spirits often frequent -the circle, that they are powerful to deceive, and that the means of -distinguishing between the wiles of evil spirits and the communications -of good ones are very obscure. - -This, then, is the prospect. The pastures of the Church have been -suffered to become bare and barren of one species of food which the -sheep crave and sicken for the want of. They break out of the inclosure -and rush, unguided, searching for it among poisonous plants, which -closely resemble it, but whose taste is deadly. - -Those remarkable phenomena which affect belief upon this subject are -not confined to paid mediums and spiritual circles, so called. They -sometimes come of themselves to persons neither believing in them, -looking for them, nor seeking them. Thus coming they can not but -powerfully and tenderly move the soul. A person in the desolation of -bereavement, visited with such experiences, is in a condition which -calls for the tenderest sympathy and most careful guidance. Yet how -little of this is there to be found! The attempt to unvail their history -draws upon them, perhaps, only cold ridicule and a scarcely suppressed -doubt of their veracity. They are repelled from making confidence where -they ought to find the wisest guidance, and are drawn by an invisible -sympathy into labyrinths of deception and error--and finally, perhaps, -relapse into a colder skepticism than before. That such experiences -are becoming common in our days, is a fact that ought to rouse true -Christians to consideration, and to searching the word of God to find -the real boundaries and the true and safe paths. - -We have stated in the last article, and in this, what the belief and the -customs of the primitive Christians were in respect to the departed. We -are aware that it does not follow, of course, that a custom is to be -adopted in our times because the first Christians preached and taught -it. A man does not become like his ancestors by dressing up in their old -clothes--but by acting in their _spirit_. It is quite possible to wear -such robes and practice such ceremonies as the early Christians did -and not to be in the least like them. Therefore let us not be held as -advocating the practice of administering the eucharist at funerals, and -of praying for the dead in the eucharistic service, because it was done -in the first three centuries. But we do hold to a return to the _spirit_ -which caused these customs. We hold to _that belief_ in the unbroken -unity possible between those who have passed to the higher life than -this. We hold to that vivid faith in things unseen which was the -strength of primitive Christians. The first Christians _believed_ what -they said they did--we do not. The unseen spiritual world, its angels -and archangels, its saints and martyrs, its purity and its joys, were -ever before them, and that is why they were such a mighty force in the -world. St. Augustine says that it was the vision of the saints gone -before that inspired them with courage and contempt of death--and it is -true. - -In another paper we shall endeavor to show how far these beliefs of the -primitive Church correspond with the Holy Scripture. - - - - -DR. DODDRIDGE'S DREAM - - [In concluding these Psychological discussions, what is there more - appropriate than the following? If it be called only a dream, or, - even a delusion, what harm can come of it? Is it not in keeping with - Scripture teachings, as now interpreted? For ourselves, we enjoy our - own opinions on subjects not susceptible of proof to the external - senses. Others may do the same. EDITOR.] - - -Dr. Doddridge was on terms of very intimate friendship with Dr. -Samuel Clarke, and in religious conversation they spent many happy -hours together. Among other matters, a very favorite topic was the -intermediate state of the soul, and the probability that at the instant -of dissolution it was introduced into the presence of all the heavenly -hosts, and the splendors around the throne of God. One evening, after a -conversation of this nature, Dr. Doddridge retired to rest, and "in the -visions of the night" his ideas were shaped into the following beautiful -form. - -He dreamed that he was at the house of a friend, when he was taken -suddenly and dangerously ill. By degrees he seemed to grow worse, and at -last to expire. In an instant he was sensible that he had exchanged the -prison-house and sufferings of mortality for a state of liberty and -happiness. Embodied in a slender, aerial form, he seemed to float in a -region of pure light. Beneath him lay the earth, but not a glittering -city or a village, the forest or the sea were visible. There was naught -to be seen below save the melancholy group of his friends, weeping -around his lifeless remains. Himself thrilled with delight, he was -surprised at their tears, and attempted to inform them of his happy -change, but by some mysterious power, utterance was denied; and as he -anxiously leaned over the mourning circle, gazing fondly upon them and -struggling to speak, he rose silently upon the air, their forms became -more and more indistinct, and gradually melted away from his sight. -Reposing upon golden clouds, he found himself swiftly mounting the -skies, with a venerable figure at his side, guiding his mysterious -movements, and in whose countenance he discovered the lineaments of -youth and age blended together, with an intimate harmony and majestic -sweetness. - -They traveled together through a vast region of empty space, until, at -length, the battlements of a glorious edifice shone in the distance, and -as its form rose brilliant and distinct among the far-off shadows that -flitted athwart their path, the guide informed him that the palace he -beheld was, for the present, to be his mansion of rest. Gazing upon its -splendor, he replied that while on earth he had often heard that eye -had not seen, nor ear heard, nor could the heart of man conceive, -the things which God hath prepared for those who love him; but -notwithstanding the building to which they were rapidly approaching was -superior to anything he had before beheld, yet its grandeur had not -exceeded the conceptions he had formed. The guide made no reply--they -were already at the door, and entered. The guide introduced him into a -spacious apartment, at the extremity of which stood a table, covered -with a snow-white cloth, a golden cup, and a cluster of grapes, and then -said that he must leave him, but that _he_ must remain, for in a short -time he would receive a visit from the lord of the mansion, and that -during the interval before his arrival, the apartment would furnish him -sufficient entertainment and instruction. The guide vanished, and he -was left alone. He began to examine the decorations of the room, and -observed that the walls were adorned with a number of pictures. Upon -nearer inspection he perceived, to his astonishment, that they formed a -complete biography of his own life. Here he saw depicted, that angels, -though unseen, had ever been his familiar attendants; and sent by God -they had sometimes preserved him from imminent peril. He beheld himself -first represented as an infant just expiring, when his life was -prolonged by an angel gently breathing into his nostrils. Most of the -occurrences delineated were perfectly familiar to his recollection, and -unfolded many things which he had never before understood, and which had -perplexed him with many doubts and much uneasiness. Among others he was -particularly impressed with a picture in which he was represented as -falling from his horse, when death would have been inevitable had not -an angel received him in his arms and broken the force of his descent. -These merciful interpositions of God filled him with joy and gratitude, -and his heart overflowed with love as he surveyed in them all an -exhibition of goodness and mercy far beyond all that he had imagined. - -Suddenly his attention was arrested by a knock at the door. The lord of -the mansion had arrived--the door opened and he entered. So powerful and -overwhelming, and withal of such singular beauty was his appearance, -that he sank down at his feet, completely overcome by his majestic -presence. His lord gently raised him from the ground, and taking his -hand led him forward to the table. He pressed with his fingers the juice -of the grapes into the golden cup, and after having himself drank, -he presented it to him, saying, "This is the new wine in my Father's -kingdom." No sooner had he partaken than all uneasy sensations vanished, -perfect love had now cast out fear, and he conversed with the Saviour as -an intimate friend. Like the silver rippling of a summer sea he heard -fall from his lips the grateful approbation: "Thy labors are finished, -thy work is approved; rich and glorious is the reward." Thrilled with -an unspeakable bliss, that pervaded the very depths of his soul, he -suddenly saw glories upon glories bursting upon his view. The Doctor -awoke. Tears of rapture from this joyful interview were rolling down his -cheeks. Long did the lively impression of this charming dream remain -upon his mind, and never could he speak of it without emotions of joy, -and with tender and grateful remembrance. - - - - -BRAIN AND MIND; - -OR, - -MENTAL SCIENCE CONSIDERED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF -PHRENOLOGY, - -AND - -IN RELATION TO MODERN PHYSIOLOGY. - - By HENRY S. DRAYTON, A.M., M.D., and JAMES MCNEILL, A.B. Illustrated - with over 100 Portraits and Diagrams. 12mo, extra cloth, $1.50. - - This contribution to the science of mind has been made in response - to the demand of the time for a work embodying the grand principles - of Phrenology, as they are understood and applied to-day by the - advanced exponents of mental philosophy, who accept the doctrine - caught by Gall, Spurzheim, and Combe. - -The following, from the Table of Contents, shows the scope of the work: - - General Principles; Of the Temperaments; Structure of the Brain and - Skull; Classification of the Faculties; The Selfish Organs; The - Intellect; The Semi-Intellectual Faculties; The Organs of the - Social Functions; The Selfish Sentiments; The Moral and Religious - Sentiments; How to Examine Heads; How Character is Manifested; The - Action of the Faculties; The Relation of Phrenology to Metaphysics - and Education; Value of Phrenology as an Art; Phrenology and - Physiology; Objections and Confirmations by the Physiologists; - Phrenology in General Literature. - -NOTICES OF THE PRESS. - - "Phrenology is no longer a thing laughed at. The scientific - researches of the last twenty years have demonstrated the fearful - and wonderful complication of matter, not only with mind, but with - what we call moral qualities. Thereby, we believe, the divine origin - of 'our frame' has been newly illustrated, and the Scriptural - psychology confirmed; and in the Phrenological Chart we are disposed - to find a species of 'urim and thummim,' revealing, if not the - Creator's will concerning us, at least His revelation of essential - character. The above work is, without doubt, the best popular - presentation of the science which has yet been made. It confines - itself strictly to facts, and is not written in the interest of any - pet 'theory.' It is made very interesting by its copious - illustrations, pictorial and narrative, and the whole is brought - down to the latest information on this curious and suggestive - department of knowledge."--_Christian Intelligencer, N. Y._ - - "Whether a reader be inclined to believe Phrenology or not, he must - find the volume a mine of interest, gather many suggestions of the - highest value, and rise from its perusal with clearer views of the - nature of mind and the responsibilities of human life. The work - constitutes a complete text-book on the subject."--_Presbyterian - Journal, Philadelphia._ - - "In 'Brain and Mind' the reader will find the fundamental ideas on - which Phrenology rests fully set forth and analyzed, and the science - clearly and practically treated. It is not at all necessary for the - reader to be a believer in the science to enjoy the study of the - latest exposition of its methods. The literature of the science is - extensive, but so far as we know there is no one book which so - comprehensively as 'Brain and Mind' defines its limits and treats of - its principles so thoroughly, not alone philosophically, but also in - their practical relation to the everyday life of man."--_Cal. - Advertiser._ - -In style and treatment it is adapted to the general reader, abounds with -valuable instruction expressed in clear, practical terms, and the work -constitutes by far the best Text-book on Phrenology published, and is -adapted to both private and class study. - -The illustrations of the Special Organs and Faculties are for the most -part from portraits of men and women whose characters are known, and -great pains have been taken to exemplify with accuracy the significance -of the text in each case. For the student of mind and character the work -is of the highest value. By mail, postpaid, on receipt of price, $1.50. -Address, - -FOWLER & WELLS CO., Publishers, 753 Broadway, N. Y. - - - - -[Illustration: 6. Combativeness. 3. Friendship.] - -THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL - - -is widely known in America and Europe, having been before the reading -world fifty years, and occupying a place in literature exclusively its -own, viz.: the study of =Human Nature=. - -It has long met with the approval of the press and the people, and -as a means of introducing the JOURNAL and extending an interest in -the subject, we have prepared a new =Phrenological Chart=. This is a -handsome lithograph of a symbolical head, in which the relative location -of each of the organs is shown by special designs illustrating the -function of each in the human mind. - -These sketches are not simply outlines, as shown above, but many of them -are little gems of artistic design and coloring in themselves, and will -help the student to locate the faculties and to impress his mind with a -correct idea of their prime functions. - -For instance, =Combativeness= is represented by a scene in a -lawyer's office, where a disagreement has led to an angry dispute; -=Secretiveness= is shown by a picture of the cunning fox attempting to -visit a hen-roost by the light of the moon; the teller's desk in a bank -represents =Acquisitiveness=; a butcher's shop is made to stand for -=Destructiveness=; the familiar scene of the "Good Samaritan" exhibits -the influence of =Benevolence=; =Sublimity= is pictured by a sketch of -the grand scenery of the Yosemite Valley. - -The Chart also contains a printed Key, giving the names and definitions -of the different faculties. The whole picture is very ornamental, and -must prove a feature of peculiar attraction wherever it is seen; nothing -like it for design and finish being elsewhere procurable. - -It is mounted with rings for hanging on the wall, and will be -appropriate for the home, office, library, or school. The head itself is -about twelve inches wide, beautifully lithographed in colors, on heavy -plate paper, about 19 x 24 inches. Price, $1.00. It is published and -offered as a special premium for subscribers to the =Phrenological -Journal= for 1885. To those who prefer it, we will send the -Phrenological Bust as a premium. The Journal is published at $2.00 a -year, with 15 cents extra required when the Chart or Bust is sent. -Single Number, 20 cents. Address - - -FOWLER & WELLS CO., Publishers, 753 Broadway, N. Y. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - - -Words in italics have been surrounded with _underscores_ and bold words -with =signs=. Small capitals have been changed to all capitals. - -Some of the section titles in the Table of Contents are different from -the ones in the main text. This has not been changed. - -One of the page numbers in the Table of Contents has been changed from -"82" to "81". A few punctuation errors have been corrected without note. -Also the following changes have been made, on page - - 49 "griovous" changed to "grievous" (for the accusing of several - persons of a grievous crime) - 110 "Prostestant" changed to "Protestant" (the custom of modern - Protestant Christianity have been) - 119 "occurence" changed to "occurrence" (a rare and unfrequent - occurrence, coming at intervals) - 119 "occured" changed to "occurred" (but that it occurred every - Sunday). - -Otherwise the original was preserved, including archaic spelling and -inconsistent hyphenation. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Salem witchcraft, The planchette -mystery, and Modern spiritualism, by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Phrenological Journal - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT *** - -***** This file should be named 42318-8.txt or 42318-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/3/1/42318/ - -Produced by eagkw, Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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