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M. ITS PHENOMENA AND PHILOSOPHY, BY S.A IMITUTIET, wATsotſ5 Author of “Clock Struck One, Two, and Three.” THIRTY-SIX YEARS A METHODIST MINISTER, SECOND EDITION, 1881. NEW YORK : Printed for the Azthor &y EDWARD O. J.ENKINS, 20 NORTH WILLIAM STREET. I88I. coPYRIGHT, 1880, By SA M U E L VV AT'S ON . AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO MY SPIRIT BAND, MY TWO WIVES, 5 MOLLIE AND ELLEN. WITH THE FORMER NEAR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF HAPPY WEDDED LIFE WAS SPENT. WITH THE LATTER ABOUT HALF THAT TIME, IN THE MOST PERFECTLY HARMONIOUS RELATIONS. B9TH HAVE AN ABIDING INTEREST IN THIS VOLUME, AS WELL AS THE BAND WHO ORIGINATED AND SUPERWISED ITS COMPILATION. Kºw 203] § J C O N T E N T S. CHAPTER I. “HARMONY OF RELIGIONS.” Births, Histories, and Deaths of Messiahs; Extract from Rev. Charles Beecher; The Church and the World need Proof of Immortality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 CHAPTER II. “HARMONY OF RELIGIONS.”—(Continued). • Confucius; Chrishna; First Investigations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 CHAPTER III. B I B L I C A L T E S T I M O N Y. • Teachings of Jesus; Fatherhood of God and the Brother- hood of Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 CHAPTER IV. { } W R IT IN G M E D I U M S . Dr. J. V. Mansfield; Independent Slate Writing. . . . . . . . . . 5o CHAPTER V. PHENOMENA.—(Continued). Biblical Table Service; Writing on the wall of the King's Palace; Elijah's Letter to Jehoram... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 CHAPTER VI. M A T E R I A L I Z. A TI O N , Nature's Teaching; Matter Evanescent; Personal Experi- ence at Home; Materialization of Washington; Baptism of Child. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • * * * c e º e º e 65 (5) 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. BIBLE PROOF. vº Dr. J. M. Peebles; Rev. Thomas Colley's Experience in London; Spirit Philosophy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8I CHAPTER VIII. ~ CHRISTIANITY-SPIRITUALISM-SCIENCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IOO CHAPTER IX. PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT CONTROL–ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. Magnetism, Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, Psychology, Bi- ology; Extract from Mrs. Richmond's Lecture; Mate- rialization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Io9 CHAPTER X. BIBLICAL PROOF OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. tº Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, etc.; Communication from Robert Dale Owen. . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I25 CHAPTER XI. B I B L I C A L H IS TO R Y . Fall of Adam not referred to in the Pentateuch, or the Teachings of Jesus.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 CHAPTER XII. R E L I GI ON OF J E S U. S. R. Judge Edmonds; Dr. J. M. Peebles...................... I47 CHAPTER XIII. FA IT H A N D WO R K S. “For as the Body without the Spirit, so Faith without Works is Dead also.”—James ii. 26... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I6o CHAPTER XIV. DEATH OR TRANSITION, AND WHAT FOLLOWS. Hell; A Beggar; William C. Robinson; Quotations from Mr. Wesley, by a Bishop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I68 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XV. • DOES PROBATION TERMINATE WITH EARTH-LIFE P “Spirits in Prison’’; Spirit Laws; Recompense . . . . . . . . . . I8o CHAPTER XVI. T H E R E S U R R. E. CT I O N . Mr. Wesley's Views; Jesus' Teachings; Paul's; Rev. Dr. D. C. Kelly; Bishop Foster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 CHAPTER XVII. SPIRIT-WORLD. Communication to Dr. Peebles; Bishop Otey; Rev. T. P. Davidson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 CHAPTER XVIII. L A. W. O. F. R. E. C. O M P E N S E . Immutable Law fixes the Place and State of All.......... 225 CHAPTER XIX. MYSTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. Family Bethel; Harmony; Spirits' Destiny............... 233 CHAPTER XX. REv. JOHN MOSS, LATE PRESIDING ELDER OF THE MEMPHIS DISTRICT. Entrance to Spirit-Life; Faith; A Memphian; Rev. John Manly's Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 CHAPTER XXI. SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS. E. C. Slater, D.D.; Works; Prayer... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 CHAPTER XXII. Rev. P. T. Scruggs' Views of Resurrection; Judge Hall; Higher Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 8 CONTENTs. CHAPTER XXIII. WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. R. W. Blew's Entrance to Spirit-Life; Employment; Rev. G. W. D. Harris; Rev. J. D. Andrews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 CHAPTER XXIV. PLAIN TALK FROM AN OLD FRIEND. Rev. Moses Brock, P. E. of Memphis District; S. D. Bald- win. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 CHAPTER XXV, Communications from Theodore Parker, Cyrus Jeffries, Hannah More, and Abbie E. Lansing.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3I S CHAPTER XXVI, Communications through Mrs. Robinson, Philadelphia– Rev. Jesse B. Ferguson; S. P. Kase. . . . . . * e º e s tº e º e º t e º e 324 CHAPTER XXVII, Opposition to Spiritualism Unreasonable—The Church's Past and Present. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 CHAPTER XXVIII. Communications received through Dr. J. V. Mansfield—A Remarkable Test—Spirit Control, and Quotation from a Closed Book—Another Remarkable Test............... 344 CHAPTER XXIX. HOME CIRCLES. Gone Before—From our First-born—Spirit-wife's Advice to us—Vital Questions Asked and Answered—From Judge Hall—Spirit Homes — Closing Communication from our Band—From Jesse B. Ferguson—“Come and let us Reason Together”. . . . . * tº e º ſº tº gº tº dº tº ſº tº ſº e º e g tº º e s tº º is tº 35 I APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 R I O G R A P H I C A L S K E T C H OF REV. SAMUEL WATSON. By HUDSON TUTTLE, º [From THE RELIGIO-PHILOSOPHICAL Journal]. THE attention of Spiritualists was first earnestly drawn to Mr. Watson by the publication of the two volumes, “The Clock Struck One" and “The Clock Struck Three.” These volumes made a profound sensation on the class to whom they were addressed. To the Methodist Church he was well known by a long life devoted to its ministry. So well established was he with the Church at large and his own congregation, that his open avowal of his belief in Spiritualism did not at first cause, as would have been supposed, either his dismissal or censure. He went right on in his teachings, supporting himself with the Bible, and carrying his church partially forward with him. The result of his investigation of Spiritualism is a fine illustration of the power of truth over the receptive, unprejudiced mind. If a man will allow himself to think, and receive the results of his thinking without prejudice, he will be led, even against his will, in the path of accurate knowledge. He may blunder; he may at times go astray into by-lanes and diverging alleys, but he will ultimately burst through all restraint, and seek the truth as unerringly as the magnet points to the pole. Mr. Watson was a minister of the Methodist Church for thirty-six years, active, laborious, and more than usually respected and honored. His education and prejudice inclined I* (9) Io BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. him in that direction. His distinction had been acquired in the ranks of that Church, and to renounce its doctrines was the sacrifice of all pecuniary advantages and the fair name he had reared by a life-time of devotion. Had the decision been pressed upon him at first, perhaps the result would have been different. The actual metal of the soul is rarely tested. We are insensibly led forward, step by step, and the victory is achieved before we are aware. The Divinity guides our aims and our purposes to His own grander schemes. The method by which Mr. Watson was impelled onward to his present posi- tion, of itself affords a , deeply interesting study, and yet more remarkable, while he is a declared Spiritualist, and has not lost, except in some bigoted quarters, the least prestige by the open declaration of his belief. Indeed, it would appear that he gives expression to the views and experiences of a majority of the church to which he is endeared by his long ministry. Samuel Watson was born in Maryland, August 10, 1813. He received a strict religious education, and at an early age became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In- clined by disposition and sense of duty to the ministry, he was in 1836, at the age of twenty-three, received into the Tennessee Annual Conference, and appointed to the Wayne Circuit. In I837 he was removed to the Franklin Circuit in Alabama. In 1838 he was stationed in Clarksville, Tennessee, and in 1839 in Memphis, where he was continued as long as the discipline would permit. In 1842 and 1843 he was agent of the Ameri- can Bible Society for North Mississippi and West Tennessee, after which he was returned to Memphis and vicinity, where for thirty-three years he was officially kept by the Church. He, from the beginning, believed in the ministration of angels, whom he regards as identical with spirits. He found his belief supported by the Bible, the history of the Church, and by her shining lights. Whether he accepted the “modern manifestations” at the time he first began the controversy BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Iſ I which resulted in his public avowal, we are not informed ; though it would appear from certain passages that he not only discarded, but was highly prejudiced against them. That con- troversy began by Mr. Watson writing an article for the Mem- phis Appeal, on the often observed coincidence of the striking of a clock and the death of a member of the family, in which he affirmed the truthfulness of the statements and his belief in the supernatural origin of the occurrences. On four several occasions in his own family, an old clock had struck one, and the omen had been speedily followed by a death in his house- hold. He introduced such an array of facts, and these so well authenticated, that Dr. Bond felt constrained to reply in the St. Louis Christian Advocate, wherein he swept away all such omens as childish superstitions, and pronounced them highly dangerous and antagonistic to the best interests of the Church. Several articles were exchanged, in each of which Mr. Watson, although triumphantly vindicating his position, was driven step by step to the broader admission of the facts of Spiritualism. We are inclined to suspect that he had, during this interval, studied the phenomena which lay so exactly in his path of thought, and furnished him with invulnerable weapons. Yet he did not introduce them at that stage of the discussion, but repeatedly disclaimed the taunt of his antagonist that he inclined in that direction. At length Mr. Watson became too strong for his opponent. If he did not state its facts, the moral support they gave made him a giant. If David puts truth in his sling, Goliah is no match for him. The consequence was, that his final reply was rejected, and thus ostracised, he arduously applied himself to his vindications. Not content with his former conservative efforts, he entered the forbidden domain of Spiritualism, and gladly accepted the facts he there discovered. “The Clock Struck One,” a happy title drawn from his first attempt to show the supernatural character of the occurrence, was the result. It breathes from every page the spirit of a calm, Christian I2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. thoughtfulness, willing to extend the utmost freedom of opinion to all, and demanding the same. Unless repression reaches annihilation, it can not permanently thwart the vigor of the mind. Mr. Watson was one of thousands of ministers devoted, zealous, and loved by a circle of friends. As such he would have lived and died. The Church undertook to check the cur- rent of his thoughts, and made him a hero. Instead of the Church, he now has the whole world for an audience. He would have been satisfied with the publication of a magazine article, but a Power wiser than he knew made his disappoint- ment subservient to far nobler achievements. The angels of the Bible are ministering spirits, who, “from their very nature and constitution, are best adapted to the work of guardianship and ministration, and the work is best adapted to their growth and development.” Such guardianship is una- vailing unless the spirits can communicate with those they pro- tect. That they can do so, he proves by the Bible, the ancients, and the fathers and leaders of the Church. Having thus fortified himself with authority, he brings forward the heavy artillery of modern phenomena, held in reserve. He would not indorse the manifestations given at public circles, regard. ing the rappings as a humbug, until forced on his attention by rappings and spirit-writing in his own family. He felt the presence of spirits and conversed with them, yet he remained in doubt of the reality of Spiritualism. His educational preju- dices stood in his way, and an article he published at that time gives a doubtful sound. He believes in spirit communion, but discards the manifestations. In 1853 he continued his investigation of Spiritualism. Be- lieving it to be the “prince of humbugs,” he endeavored to detect and expose it. Through the mediumship of a colored servant-girl in his family, he was first convinced that the phe- nomena could not be explained by any law of physics or meta- physics with which he was acquainted. . . These manifestations occurring in his house were similar to BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. I3 those which occurred in the Wesley family for many years. An account of them, written by him, was published in Memphis. In 1855 a circle was organized in Memphis, composed of twelve persons; five physicians, “standing at the head of their profession,” three “ministers” and several influential laymen. “The head of the Episcopal Church in Tennessee was our leader. The medium was a native born Memphian, an honest, pious young lady, a member of the Baptist Church.” We have not space to record the varied and astonishing manifestations, physical and psychic, that transpired at this circle, which was always opened with prayer. In only one in- stance did they receive any communications contrary to ortho- dox doctrines. This remarkable one was that spirits had an opportunity for repentance in the future. The communica- tions received by this circle, when the circumstances under which they were given are considered, are among the most remarkable on record. We must remember that the members were strictly orthodox and conservative, and had the whole truth been bluntly told by the communicating spirit, they would have at once discarded it. Although that spirit, signing him- self “Mystery,” did not write one word conflicting with their preconceived ideas, except in the one instance mentioned, he taught them the essential principles of Spiritualism as distinctly as ever was pronounced to a circle of liberals | The style in which he wrote is terse and elegant, and remarkable for its directness. We regard this circle as among the most scien- tifically formed and conducted. The essential conditions for Success were instituted, unconsciously perhaps, and the results corresponded. The circle was formed of intelligent, honest, and thoughtful persons; the medium was equally intelligent and moral. There were no mercenary motives involved. They met with the sincerest desire to arrive at truth. They opened with prayer, which, in their minds, produced a harmony no other agency could establish. To them the Spirit-world was a mystery, awful in its dread sublimity, and they trans- I4. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. ferred to it a portion of their religious reverence. Had all circles been thus happily organized and conducted, how much Spiritualism would have gained in dignity and how much less would be heard of the follies and deceptions of “Diakka.” When convinced, as he soon became, Mr. Watson was not a man to conceal his light under a bushel, nor to play the hypocrite. With a fearlessness that has few parallels, he went into his pulpit and announced his belief. This created a great sensation in the church and community. Writers of the several secular papers engaged him in controversy upon the subject, by which he became known all over the country as an avowed Spiritualist. His opinions were known to the Bishop and the members of the Memphis Annual Conference generally, who, while they differed from him, never let that interfere with their personal or official relations. This was shown by his being elected the editor of their Church organ, the Memphis Christian Advocate, and by his Conference electing him as a delegate to the General Conference in 1857. The highest tribunal of the Church elected him for four years longer to the editorship of the same paper, which official relation was continued till 1866. During his term of service, this paper, which had sank some ten or twelve thousand dollars, and was several thousand more indebted, by its increased circulation paid off all its indebted- ness and current expenses. While thus serving the Church he accepted the Presidency of the State Female College, near the city. This was perhaps the most prosperous period of that in- stitution (1859–60) the number of its scholars being 220. In 1865 he was again elected delegate to the General Con- ference which met in New Orleans in 1866. He served four years as Presiding Elder of Memphis, the most important dis- trict in his Conference. In 1868, the Bishops, at their annual meeting, appointed him editor of the Christian Index, which was confirmed by the General Conference which met in Memphis in 1870. He con- tinued to edit this paper until his withdrawal from the Church, 13tocRAPHICAL SKETCH. 15 in 1872. The summer of 1873 he spent in Europe with Cooke's educational party. On his return, he published a narrative of travels, entitled “A Memphian's Trip to Europe,” which has had an extensive circulation. In 1874 he published “The Clock Struck Three,” which has been, with “The Clock Struck One,” transferred to the Religio-Philosophical Publishing House. In 1875 he com- menced the publication of the Spiritual Magazine, which, dur- ing the three years of its existence, has more than met the ex- pectations of its founder ; advocating, as he always has done, Spiritualism of a conservative character, and from a primitive Christian stand-point. Since the first State organization in Tennessee, he has been the President, and also of the local or- ganization in Memphis. In 1842 Mr. Watson married Mary A. Dupee, with whom he lived happily for nearly a quarter of a century. In 1867 he married Mrs. Fllen Perkins, with whom he is now living. In both of these alliances he regards himself as blessed. He has twelve children in the Spirit-world, nine of whom passed away in childhood. For many years he has held what he calls a home circle for the purpose of conversing with them and his first wife in a holy family reunion. He is at present lecturing on Spiritualism, taking still more advanced grounds than that occupied by his publications, and a brief criticism of their contents will form a fitting conclusion to this brief sketch : The first part of “The Clock Struck Three '' is devoted to the reviews and their answers evoked by the preceding; hav- ing finished which, Mr. Watson declares he is “ done with them. Progression being the universal law of material, as well as spiritual subjects, they, having accomplished their mission, must give place to other and more important phases of the sub- ject.” We feel this declaration marks a new era in the on- ward march of a religious mind toward untrammeled thought, and are made fully conscious of that fact by his bolder utter- I6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. ance. The Methodist Church has marked him for a heretic because he supports the belief of Wesley, and persecution has a wonderful liberalizing influence. The second, and by far the most valuable portion of this volume, is devoted to showing the harmony between Christian- ity, Science, and Spiritualism. When we learn that by Chris- tianity he does “not mean all that we hear from the pulpit as such,” nor the creeds and catechisms of the Churches, which disagree among themselves, nor any special interpretation of the Bible, we rate not his task as difficult. Between science and Spiritualism there is no conflict, and neither meets opposi- tion in a religion which is another name for moral science. This portion is a valuable exposition of Spiritualism. Never were words more golden than the following: “Every individual who would understand the truths of the Spirit-world, must be his or her own medium. God must write His law upon their understanding and put it in their affections. If you want to become mediums for interior communication, you must become absolutely true in every thought, feeling, and affection—become absolutely just in all your relations of life, so that morning, noon, and night you will be inquiring and thirsting after righteousness.” . . . . “If Spiritualism, in its faith and effects, does not tend to make you better, wiser, and purer—holier men and women—as St. Paul says of the Corinthians, it will ‘profit you nothing.' That Spiritualism which will not redeem you will not be sufficient to redeem the world.” Mr. Watson would have the cause freed from the excres- cences which obstruct it. He would at once have it noble, dignified, and truly spiritual. Then he feels assured that churches would accept the unlimited power it can bestow. It will bring harmony, and proclaim to all the certainty of future life. “The vanities, riches, and honors of earth sink into utter insignificance when compared with the real happiness enjoyed by our friends who have ‘passed over the river.' What the 13IOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 17 world has so much dreaded—the separation of soul and body— is but a delightful repose and a glorious awakening to everlast- ing joy, and the fruition of all we are capable of enjoying.” Mr. Watson does not engage in a polemic discussion in his effort to show the harmony between science, Christianity, and Spiritualism. He takes the direct method, producing an over- whelming array of facts, and showing that these tend to the only true and rational philosophy of future life. Throughout these volumes we are constantly reminded that the author has been a strict believer in the dogmas of the Church. He can not be expected to have escaped suddenly from the influence of almost half a century’s education. His view is from that direction, and his phraseology is that of the divinity student rather than of the scientist. Often he conceals startling and new ideas beneath the old wording, thus commit- ting the sin of pouring new wine into old bottles. For all this he is most excusable, for it is not strange he commits such errors; rather, that he commits so few of them. Only one in thousands are brave enough to take his position, and patiently bear the sacrifice of all the honors acquired by life-long labor. His manly course will be productive of great good, for there are thousands of church members who will thoughtfully con- sider a subject which has been sanctioned by one whom they have regarded as a shining light, and they will be led up to the heights where he now stands. According to his showing, the extension of Spiritualism among the laity and ministers of his Church is almost incredible. The most orthodox families have mediums in their midst, and hold private circles, at which their ministers communicate with the angel world. It is true, few have the bravery to openly avow their belief, yet silently, un- consciously, it permeates the thoughts of all, and tinges the prayer and the sermon. sº * What is most admirable and charming in these volumes, is the calm spirit of goodness, the depth of fraternal love, the catholicity of thought, which pervades them. Nothing disturbs I8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. the serenity of the author. His soul, by the presence and communication of the departed, is entirely uplifted from the pettiness of earth, and he feels that he advocates doctrines too vital to be trifled with, and to mention in flippant phrase. Only when he speaks of the deceptions, impositions, and errors which cover themselves with the shining mantle of Spiritualism, does he employ the language of denunciation, and then he softens his words with charity. They who have been educated in the school of free thought, will say that Mr. Watson has yet to abandon many views he now holds as essential. They will charge him with clinging to superstition, and bringing religious tenets into the fold of lib- eralism. All these charges would be in a measure true, and in a greater measure false. He comes from one direction, the free-thinker from an exactly opposite. They see the subject from different points of view. Both can learn valuable lessons of each other. Some liberalists may even learn liberality of Mr. Watson, and profitably copy his perfect toleration. Mr. Watson is well versed in general science, and his argu- ments are fortified by its aid, but he evidently feels himself most at home on biblical ground. For thirty-six years he has taught from its pages, and known no higher court of appeal, and it would be ungenerous to criticise, because he adheres to a method of argument brought into the very constitution of his mind. We may say the Bible has no authority except that of truth, held in common with all books, yet as long as millions accept it as infallible, it becomes an invaluable ally to an un- popular cause. Its texts will be accepted when all other evi- dence will be rejected with scorn. This line of defense never had an abler defender that Mr. Watson. Every weapon in the vast arsenal is at his command. He leaves not a text idle. All that can be gathered from it is pushed to the front, and on this, his favorite ground, he is in- vincible. To the Church to which he belonged, he is a mis- sionary; and if it is ever led onward to the green fields and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. I9 sweet pastures, it must be through the labors of such leaders and by such methods. To convince the understanding, the attention must first be gained, and prejudice is too strong to allow the truths of Spiritualism to approach in any other garb than biblical texts and expositions. Mr. Watson disarms criti- cism by his magnanimity. We comprehend his position, and instead of carping at his method, which would indicate a narrow bigotry, we would yield him all praise for the height he has gained. A soul so strong can not rest short of the goal. He has paved the way for greater endeavors. The arm of the nurse supports the tottering child that it may gain strength to support itself. Those who are led by the Bible to the accept- ance of the ministration of angels, will gain strength to go be- yond. The facts and communications are among the most impor- tant features of these volumes. The latter are characteristic of the author from whom they purport to emanate, and valua- ble for the ideas they express. Judge Edmunds had promised to preface the last volume, but he departed this life before he performed his task, and hence Mr. Watson allows him to close with a communication from the higher spheres. These volumes can not be too highly commended to Spirit- ualists who desire works to give to friends in the Churches. They are invaluable as missionary agents. The character of their author; the sincerity, honesty, and integrity of his style ; the exquisite spirit of goodness and fraternity pervading their every page, will attract and hold the attention, and con- vince, so far as it is possible for books to convince, of the truth of the sublime doctrines advocated. IN T R O DU CT I O N . “If a man die, shall he live again?” This is one of the most important questions ever propounded to man. It is one which has been very difficult to answer affirmatively. We stand around the dying couch of loved ones, and see them struggling with the monster, yielding at last to his power, and we say they are dead. We consign the quickly decaying body to the grave. Soon it moulders away and the gases return to their original elements. There is nothing to be seen that even indicates that it will ever germinate or return to life again. To believe that it will, on any facts that appear to be within our reach, is impossible. We see the form utterly dissipated with- out the slightest prospect of its restoration. Its occupant, if there be one, has gone like a flash, or passed out unobserved. We can neither see, hear, nor feel the vanishing spirit with our mortal eye. Thus it has ever been with the races of man- kind. Through all the ages, the world has been waiting and watching to hear from the countless millions of earth who have thus passed away leaving crushed hearts to mourn, but no echo has come back; silence reigns—oblivion triumphs over all blasted hopes. Such is life, as experience mournfully tells of the past, as seen from a strictly materialistic stand-point. As seen from its opposite, the clairvoyant beholds the loved ones around, waiting to welcome a new-born soul to the spirit- world, the real substantial mode of existence. A distinguished Bishop of the M. E. Church, South, says: “No vain or irrev- . (21) 22 INTRODUCTION. erent curiosity inquires here. A state so near, so certain, con- cerns us all. The soul would explore before entering ‘the land of darkness’ as darkness itself. We look, we can not help looking, in that direction.” In this quotation from this eminent divine we find the ad- mission of two facts. First, a justifiable curiosity, in looking or desiring to look into the future; and second, with all the light shed upon this subject it is a “land of darkness” to those who have only the written word, which has not met the long- ing demands of a large class of mankind. Our object is to supplement this deficiency by testimony regarding the life to come by pointing out how, instead of trusting to blind, un- reasoning faith, we can, if we will, obtain abundant positive evidence upon the subject, sufficient on the one hand to clear up all doubts which conceal the truths lying beneath the Bible narratives, and powerful enough to explode the metaphysical subtleties which have obscured this important subject. This evidence consists of stubborn facts, which will enable any can- did investigator who will carefully examine for himself the proofs adduced, to transcend all the fruitless speculations of philosophy. Can any one conscientiously affirm that the Bible satisfies all our wants in this respect P. We think not. Hence the sad and comfortless teachings we often hear from the pulpit and at funerals. There is a key that unlocks these mysteries in re- gard to immortality, and will afford ample comfort to the Bible student from the fact of its according in the main with his favorite authority. So far from its imperilling the Scriptures, it will add intensely to the interest of their perusal by spread- ing entirely a new light upon many Bible narratives that must have always appeared mysterious and inexplicable to those who have never known anything of communications from those who have passed the veil which separates the natural from the spirit world. This key then, which is to solve the INTRODUCTION. 23 problem of immortality, and once for all settle all speculations on the subject, is Spiritualism, with which the Bible abounds. We may safely affirm that it constitutes the vitality of the Book, and but for which it never could have influenced the minds of mankind as it has done: There has been a gradual unfoldment of the divine government as the ages were pre- pared to receive it, until life and immortality were brought more fully to light by the life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus. This latter fact is the rock on which the whole Chris- tian superstructure is built. There is a very striking similarity in the early history of Christianity and modern Spiritualism. They both have the key-stone to the arch which binds their sys- tems in the resurrection, and the materialization, and recog- nition of those who were once denizens of earth. We have devoted considerable space to this phase of manifestation, as it has been regarded by Paul and Spiritualists of modern time as the most demonstrative, and as Mr. Wesley says (Vol. IV. page 368, London Edition). “I willingly take this oppor- tunity of entering my solemn protest against this violent com- pliment which so many that believe the Bible pay to those who do not believe it. I owe them no such service. I take knowledge that these are at the bottom of the outcry, which has been raised, and with such insolence spread throughout the nation in direct opposition, not only to the Bible, but the suf. frage of the wisest and best of men in all ages and nations. They well know, whether Christians know it or not, that the giving up these things is in effect giving up the Bible. And they know, on the other hand, that if but one account of the intercourse of men with separate spirits be admitted, their whole castle in the air—DEISM, ATHEISM, MATERIALISM–falls to the ground. I know no reason why we should suffer even this weapon wrested out of our hands. Indeed, there are numer- ous arguments besides which abundantly confute their vain im. aginations. We need not be hooted out of one ; neither reason 24 INTRODUCTION. or religion requires this.” In harmony with these views by the founder of the largest Protestant Church in the world, we pro- ceed to give our opinions—controlled, as we believe, mainly by those who passed over, and know for themselves the truth of what they have realized in the spirit-world. PR E FA C E. WHEN our spirit friends agreed to suspend the Spiritual Magazine in order that the Voice of Zyuth, a weekly, might be a success, they assigned me to another work. This was to prepare and publish a book on the “Religion of Spiritualism.” Having published “Clock Struck ONE, Two, and THREE,” and edited a monthly magazine devoted to Spiritualism, I was reluctant to give my consent to the undertaking. Having had repeated assurances from our “band,” most of whom were preachers, that they would supervise the work, I entered upon it by their direction. I therefore claim nothing for myself—though I have written much of the matter it contains. I wish it distinctly understood that I have been used simply as an instrument through whom those who have passed over the river of life to communicate with those who remain, by impressing me to write, select, and arrange a book for them. I have used some editorials from the Magazine, giving our views, as clearly as we were capable, of the subject matter under consideration. I have also used matter from it sometimes without knowing the author, yet embodying what I have been impressed to be the truth. I have given those on the other side the desired opportunity of speaking for themselves in this volume mostly through our “Home Circle.” * Just before leaving home to have it published, it was written that they had looked over it and were “anxious to see the work appear.” “We call it ours—we claim the authorship.” 2 (25) 26 PREFACE. Another one of our band, who, while here, was a prominent minister, writes: “I assure you, my esteemed friend and brother, we have, with all sanctity, truth, and candor, borne the responsible posi- tion assigned to us by yourself. This work must speak when you shall have joined us on the brighter and happier shore, that many in consequence may call you blessed. You have, brother, been an instrument in our hands, and we have used you well.” Desiring to have the responsibility of this book rest upon those who have directed in its preparation, I proposed to read the chapters in regular order in the presence of the medium, and have them control and make whatever changes they might see proper in it. After reading a portion of it the medium was controlled and the following was written : “BRO. WATSON :—It is common for a person to endorse, or not, a book or any publication, after it has appeared in print, and I may be considered premature in expressing my opinion until it has been presented to the public gaze; but I can not refrain from saying that it is a book which will be received, and very extensively approved, by the masses of orthodox believers. “There are but few old orthodox advocates throughout the world now, comparatively with the times when I was recog- nized as one. Yes, I was one; but since the mortal has put on the immortal, I have seen how erroneous my teachings have been and how defiant to change my opinion upon some sub- jects. The world is now waiting for you to disturb its waters, and then the marvelous results will ensue. It does seem so strange that when we see a man so occupied we can at once say, ‘The way is clear—go ahead.’ Go on, Brother Watson, you are doing all you can. The way has been nade clear, and you have much assistance. You can soon finish up. You have our prayers and hearty approval. Don't become weary in well-doing. “The victory shall be yours. C. B. PARSONS.” PREFACE. 27 “We have looked over the manuscript of your projected book, and find very little to which we object—very few points you omit—and have also ascertained the fact that you have all along been inspired to arrange and impressed what to strike out. You can better arrange it now with the aid of us, slightly through this medium, than we thought at first. There are many glorious and startling truths contained in its Heaven- inspiréd pages. It will, we think, startle only to convince and thrill the heart with emotions of everlasting joy. One can not but read and be a better man and woman. It will be calcu- lated to divest the mind of doubt and eradicate prejudice. Some will read with a profound interest, only to find the curi- osity greater to seek for more information on some things of the “same sort.’ “I must not indulge too much. I am speaking not only for myself, but also for others. We are anxious to see it com- pleted and presented to the inquiring world, for, in my opin- ion, this book will heal the wound which has proved so hurtful to the doctrine which carries such a hallowed and soothing influence. Go on, my brother. This is the opinion of one of your band, and not one only, but many. E. C. SLATER.” “SAMUEL :—We are ready to assist you and Ellen all we can in the writing you have planned, and at any time ’twill suit your convenience. Your wish and will can bring us at any time. We don't think there will be many changes or much modifying, for you were inspired to write much of what you. have. Now, don't think I am your critic, only as I am told by higher and talented spirits. It may be there will be entire chapters, and no changes will be made. You must not think it flattery, but the Heavenly inhabitants are waiting with out- stretched hands to receive all that may be said. They are assisting you. Trust them. MOLLIE.” CHAPTER I. HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. THERE has been an underlying truth in the sacred records of ancient nations. The mind of man has appropriated as much as its capacity was adapted to receive. He must be a shallow observer of human nature who attributes to superstition the homage and reverence that are paid by millions of human beings to the “sacred writings” of past ages. Mankind live to little purpose if the requirements of the past were sufficient for the present, and future generations. This world's history demonstrates that progress is exhibited in mental and spiritual knowledge, and that revelations of a diverse order have been given, and in due time may continue to be given to meet the wants and requirements of an advanced intellectual age. The first stages of skepticism which have always greeted the ap- pearance of an unwelcome truth are rapidly disappearing, and as a leaven which ultimately will leaven the whole mass of humanity is now working among the intellectual classes of all nations. The time, we think, is coming when the teachings of pure spirits embodying the principles taught by Jesus, will be- come a mighty power to mould the thoughts and affect the states and destinies of nations yet unborn. Seen in the light of the Spiritual philosophy, the flood, and dispersion of man- kind, with Genesis, Exodus, and separation of peoples, together with the births, histories, and deaths of Messiahs, are no idle tales or unmeaning stories, but in fact are records of stupendous verities on a plane, or degree of human consciousness which (29) 3o e THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. even yet is but dimly seen, and but little comprehended by the masses of mankind. Mistaken identity does not destroy realities, neither does incapacity to understand dissipate intellectual and spiritual facts. These abide their time and await the development of states, in which they will be estimated at their true value. They pertain to mind and spirit, and will in due time give forth a life which will develop and sustain an intellectuality and a spirituality of a higher and purer order than has heretofore been experienced. There can be no question or doubt as to the fact of the existence of cycles of human thought in the past ages, and that the great religious and mystic systems which sprang out therefrom had a beginning, and that such beginnings marked off in the roll of time the epochs or eras which then, as now, characterize the divisions of the human race by systems and nationalities; but for want of a “calendar.” and having no system of chronology, such as was afterward adopted, the ancients preserved the remembrance of their historical events by tradition, hence all chronology beyond the historic era is vague and uncertain. As the ecclesiastical sys- tems, pure in their origin, became solidified in concrete forms they were used to enslave and fetter the human mind, and his- tory is a continuous record of suffering and misery endured by those who, yearning for a truer and more spiritual perception of truth, raised a protesting voice against the prevailing sen- Suous and materializing tendency of their day, and giving forth a different view of truth to those who were in authority, they, by resisting unto death, preserved their dearest and most valuable prerogative of humanity, viz, FREEDOM. The once gorgeous ecclesiasticism of ancient Egypt has be- come “a thing of the past.” Her once magnificent temples and scarcely less stately tonnbs, with her sculptured monu- ments and halls covered with writings and hieroglyphics are now in ruins, and like their ruined remains buried in the vastest cemetery in the world. Egypt as a nationality, with her eccle- HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. 3I tº siastical system, has passed away forever, but the spirit of ancient Egypt still survives amongst the nations of Europe. The signs of this awakening are very apparent to those who are not blinded by bigotry, prejudice, and ignorance. These signs are to be seen whenever we turn our eyes over the con- tinent of Europe, and this generation will not pass away with- out a manifestation, such as modern history does not record of manifestations of life and power of a new resurrection to life. The object is not to destroy or vitiate the value of ancient records and systems, but to show the harmony existing in all, and that whatever may have been, and is the character of the external presentment, yet they are one and all various mani- festations of the one truth based upon the recognition of one law by which our nature, whether above or below, is the out- come and representation of that which is within nature, of which it is the effect and to which the term spirit is applicable. We are living in one of those cycles which we think is draw- ing to a close, and a new and brighter day is dawning upon us, such as has never been witnessed in the world's history—an era when the principles, precepts, and practice of the religion of Jesus will be recognized by those who are governed by moral principle, and the inalienable right of freedom without the dictate of authority claiming to be of divine origin will be uni- versally acknowledged by mankind. We make the following extract from Rev. Dr. Charles Beech- er's recent work on “Spiritual Manifestations,” pages 148–150 : “It is curious that if we examine the languages of Greece and Rome and India we find certain words, certain rites, certain laws very much alike, pointing backward to a very remote antiquity when these three peoples—explain it how they may—have had the same language and laws and religion. But the striking fact is, that at the very earliest period to which we can ascend by an ex- annination of languages, rites, and laws, we find a domestic religion substantially such as we have shown, would naturally result from the Eden tabernacle. Thus regarded, we can con- 32 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. * ceive of the ancient polytheism as in one sense the original divinely revealed religion. It had the elements of eternal truth and heavenly beauty. Its votaries could sincerely re- gard it as of divine origin and sanction, and however the fine gold might become dim, however gross the corruptions might in time become, traces of the original beauty and truth would still be there, and the process of change being gradual would not be noticed. The process would be substantially the same in all the Adamic races, with such diversities of detail as would easily spring from mental idiosyncrasy and from environment. . . . . The extreme antiquity of necromancy and magic in all their forms is shown more and more clearly by every fresh discovery in Assyrian and Egyptian remains. That the cosmocratic powers may have designed by such means to found great and imposing empires of worldly splendor is easily conceivable; but facts showed it was an instrumentality they could not regulate. They could not prevent abuses from creeping in from the way- wardness of the spirits communicating, and from the selfishness of men. Their oracles, degenerated, would become tainted with fraud, would be prostituted for gain and the gratification of their passions. “Earthly rulers have often tried to rule well, simply from self. ish motives, to enhance their own grandeur and obtain re- nown. Is it not conceivable that the same should have been the case with the invisible principalities P Spiritualists, at least, can not consistently object to such a view.” Spiritualism, as I have understood it, does not propose to set up a new religion, but to hold sacred those fundamental principles which have been shadowed forth in past ages by the religions of the nations. It affords a medium through which the religious life beams forth transfigured. It proves eternal progression, and renders “HADES” a passage to higher spheres by a gradual progression for a sudden transformation as has been generally believed. This principle of God's government in His works of mature HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. 33 in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, as well as in man—the noblest work of creation—is obvious to reflecting minds. Christianity, properly understood, as taught by its founder, has no voice to raise against it, for it is the basis on which its whole superstructure is built, and constitutes the vitality of its possessed creeds or forms of faith. They have undergone phases of changes since the beginning, and, from the nature of progressive development, must continue ; but TRUTH is ETERNAL, and, consequently, not subject to such changes, but will remain the same forever. Whilst theologies have been waging warfare against each other about dogmas and ceremonies, the great eternal truths of immortality have still been prominent in some form or an- other among the nations of antiquity. Names are often sub- stituted for things, and fanaticism has taken the place of rea- son. What the world needs now is a living, palpable, healing faith, which will lead to active works for humanity; going about doing good to the souls and bodies of manhood; a faith that is not dependent on mere external formulas, but that which will inspire universal, holy, and heavenly hopes. Such a faith, we believe, Spiritualism is destined to supply, when the excrescenees have been lopped off of it, and its true mission understood and appreciated. We want—the churches need and the world demands—a faith that gives indubitable testimony that behind the veil there is LIFE, and that DEATH is a name for the change that must of necessity pass upon all, to enter that real life which is be- yond the present sublunary state of existence. There are the life-long strugglings of the soul for demon- strated immortal being that has not been fully met by any of the religions of the past ages. Such testimony Spiritualism does supply to those who enjoy its demonstrating power-from those who have passed through the change called death, and return to inform us of the glorious beyond. We want assurance that the life we lead here will regulate 2* 34 * THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the life on the other side. We want to know that every noble and holy desire and sincere thought directed in the way of goodness, of high endeavor, and soul-elevating conception will go with us—pleading for us, and giving us happiness in that other world behind the veil. We want assurance that every base, degrading action, vicious desire, insincere thought di- rected in the way of violated law, low pursuit, and criminal conception will follow us, haunting us like spectres, to witness against us in that other world. Such assurance Jesus gives by declaring that what we sow here we reap there. So does the teachings of the inspired writers, that, by our works, we shall be justified, and by our works we shall be condemned. Spiritualism, as we have witnessed on different occasions, which will be seen at the proper place in the following pages, teaches the same truth. It renders doubt and uncertainty im- possible, because it brings the consequences of life-action near at hand. Thus the certain knowledge that we carry with us, immediately after we enter the other life, those natures which have demonized or spiritualized our souls on earth — the knowledge that when we have passed from the temporal into the eternal state begins the heaven or hell we have made within us—makes the responsibility to act well our part in the present life, and gives the strongest possible incentive to vir- tuous and vigorous effort to lead a life of moral rectitude, as preliminary to the eternal life beyond. Spiritualism teaches this, and that, too, without ignoring Christian truths as taught by its founder. Once ingraft this conviction, that virtue and vice walk with us here, and continue with us hereafter in degree and power, and the inducement to right action will be greatly strengthened and wrong action greatly weakened. It is the certainty of retributive justice which operates on the consciences and lives of mankind that induces right living. Spiritualism thus teaches all who will heed its golden principles and precepts, honoring the great universal Father, and points to the Christ principle, as shown * HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. 35 in the life and teachings of Jesus, and bids us transfer our lives and likeness to His. We are thus stimulated to put a check upon our passions, and improve our habits to grow more and more in love with the good and true, as the only sure road to moral progress here, preparatory to that eternal progression which awaits us on the other side of the present infantile state of our existence. º CHAPTER II. THE HARMONY OF RELIGIONS (CONTINUED). SoME have supposed that Spiritualism originated on the 31st of March, 1848, in the Fox family, near Rochester, N. Y. This is an error. It is as old as anything recorded in history, has existed in every age, among every nation, and forms the basis of every religion known among men. It is true that, like many other things of which this utilita- rian age can boast—the discoveries in art, science, labor-saving, etc.—means have been discovered through which the veil between this and the spirit-world has been drawn aside, and the occasional “gates ajar” have been opened. As the principle of telegraphy was in existence from the beginning, but was brought into practical use through the agency of a Morse, so the means of direct communication between the worlds was discovered through the agency of a little girl in a Methodist family, illustrating the truth declared by inspiration, that God chooseth the weak things to confound the mighty, and perfects praise-out of the mouths of babes. Whilst we give all honor to the instruments through whom these wonderful manifestations were introduced, we must ever bear in mind that the Creator has not left humanity to grope in darkness in regard to the future of our race. And, however erroneous, puerile, and absurd may have been the opinions of man in other ages, with respect to a future state of existence, yet the light of which Paul speaks as lighting every man that cometh into the world, has shed some faint rays in every age (36) THE HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. 37 and nation that there was another state of existence beyond the present sublunary one. This, I think, has been effected to a great extent through the ministry of angels. Though they may have been “few and far between,” still they have been sufficient to impress humanity that this was not the final end of man's existence. Their ideas of that existence would necessarily correspond with the intel- lectual and moral culture of the different ages and nations. In looking over the history of antiquity we find all have had some sort of a religion. Though the intellectual brain may have been dark, feeble, and, to a great extent, dormant, the moral and religious feelings have been drifting about without a pilot on the turbulent waves of superstition, yet he has had, and I think he must have, something true or false for his religion. I have been surprised to find that the religions of ancient nations in their fundamental principles and religious concep- tions are essentially the same. New fountains of religious history have been opened which have revealed many things establishing this fact beyond a doubt with the unbiased, who will examine and compare the Oriental with the popular religions of the present age. The translation recently, for the first time, of the Hindoo Vedas into the English language, the oldest Bible now extant, has revealed the fact that the heathen, as we call them, have long been in pos- session of “holy books” possessing essentially the same char- acter and teaching essentially the same doctrines as the Chris- tian Bible. The several systems of religion, similar in character and spirit as Christianity, have the recognized communion between the mundane and the supermundane spheres. The sacred biographies of Confucius, born 598 before Christ, declare that five wise men from a distance came to the house, celestial music was heard in the skies, and angels attended the scene. Chrishna of India, 12oo years before Christ, was visited by angels. He often appeared to his disciples after his death. 38 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Thus it will be seen that Spiritualism rears its superstructure on no less a foundation—the spiritual history of the human race. It reverently reads the sacred books of all ages and races, and sends friendly greetings to all of them. But it dis- tinctly and emphatically maintains that, while scattered rays of revelation have fallen on waiting eyes in ZoroASTER, CONFUCIUs, BUDDHA, and others, ancient and modern, have flitted through this twilight, the summits of revelation have alone been attained in Jesus of Nazareth. The full-orbed sun, gathering all the scattered rays into one celestial light, springs forth from Him who is the brightness of His Father's glory. To the test of this light we wish to bring all facts, all theories, all systems of all men and all spirits. We are not to believe every spirit, but to try them whether they be of God, judging them by their teachings. * While the phenomena of Spiritualism are important as the letters of the alphabet to the beginner, or the relative value of the figures to the mathematician, yet, as Paul says, we must leave the first principles and go on to perfection in knowledge. While, therefore, we shall briefly notice the phenomena and the philosophy of Spiritualism, it is the religion it teaches that is by far the most important, and must claim and receive most of the attention to be bestowed in this volume. Our constant aim shall be to attain in religion to something which ultimately shall be worthy of the name of Spiritual science, rising from nature up to nature's God, and by a combined induc- tion and deduction of the Spiritual world, seek at once a science and a philosophy of religion which shall meet the wants of the intellect, satisfy the heart, and supply an adequate rule for the conduct of life in all the varied relations we sustain to our fellow-men. . To all Spiritualists, then, whether in or out of the Churches, who have faith in God, and who are satisfied that the old out- grown theologies must be remodeled, and who would attain, through the Spirit, eternal life, and who have faith in this over- THE HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. 39 lapping of modern Spiritualism, and who would gladly see it pruned of its too luxuriant branches, inseparable from a young and vigorous growth, which have sprung from this magnificent tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, we say, “Come over and help us.” Our one object and aim shall be to present the pure teachings which we have received from our spirit friends through more than a quarter of a century of prayerful, careful investigation of this subject. While our early training in the Methodist Church, and thirty-six years of active service in her itinerant ministry, may, to some extent, influence the views that may be given, yet we think we have developed far enough “To seize the truth wherever found, On Christian or on heathen ground.” I believe a brighter day is dawning upon us. A new era is approaching, when faith, having performed its mission, will be superseded by knowledge. The demand of this age is proof–demonstration. The past ages have not been able to produce that which satisfies the materialistic tendency of this age. The credulity of the past will not suffice for the present and future of our race. Other religions may have sufficed for those among whom they originated, but will not—can not—supply the necessities which the intelligence of this age demands. Spiritualism only, as I believe, can achieve this glorious victory. When its excres- cences are lopped off it will present a philosophic religion, upon which mankind will harmonize in the fulfillment of the mission of the Angelic host, when they came, at the birth of Jesus, to the shepherds near Bethlehem of Judea. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good-will toward men.” This heavenly song by the angel choir has never yet been realized, as I believe it will be, when, through the instrumentality of the angels, the world will be presented with a religion that will meet the most exacting demands of science, as to its phenom- 4O THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. enal aspects, forcing conviction of its truth upon all unprej- udiced minds. Then the time will have come, long predicted by the ancient prophets, that the nations shall learn war no more, and all acknowledge the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man. - We do not propose to devote much space to this part of our subject. Though we commenced our investigation in 1853, and devoted considerable time to it in 1854, at home, we were not fully convinced of its truth until the spring of 1855. A circle, composed of five physicians, three ministers, one of whom was the Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee, making in all twelve members, met, for several months, twice a week, in the city of Memphis. All were members of some branch of the Church except three. By spirit direction, our meetings were always opened with prayer. There was but one of our num- ber who was a Spiritualist. All, however, were desirous of knowing the truth, and were willing to patiently search for it. Our medium was a young lady, a member of the Baptist Church. Our organization the first evening was by the rapping process. The next evening the medium's hand was controlled to write with great rapidity, answering written and mental questions far beyond her capacity. We had physical manifestations of a diversified character; some of great power. I will mention one. She knew nothing of music, yet they would control her hands to perform on the piano splendidly; and the instrument, weighing several hun- dred pounds, would rise up, keeping time with the music, no one touching the piano but her fingers, as she performed on the keys. The guitar would play when no visible hand was touching it. They told us the time would soon come when they would show themselves to mortals; that we were not pre- pared for that yet, but they would show themselves in light on the wall, by turning off the gas, which we did, and the forms were seen on the walls and ceiling of the room. The spirit who had charge of us never would tell his name or history, or give THE HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. 41 us any clew as to his identity, only that he lived several hun- dred years previously, and that Bishop Otey was familiar with his works. He wished to be known by the name of Mystery. And though the good Bishop has told us, since he passed over, that he was his disciple, and he has written over the mom de plume of “Stranger,” many fine communications through our home medium, which will appear in another part of this volume. His name and history are yet a “mystery’ to us. He told us he would see each of us once every day while on earth—would meet us as we passed over the river of life, and then, and not till then, would we know who he was. He said: “Then, I who have been your teacher on earth will be your teacher there, and then we shall look upon one another, and, oh ! with what eagerness will you devour my teachings.” When our medium was entranced we had many interesting tests from our personal friends. I well remember taking the Bishop in my buggy one night after our meeting, and in our con- versation in regard to what had occurred that night, he said he had always believed in “Guardian Angels” and “Ministering Spirits,” but he had not expected to live to realize what he had experienced that evening, in conversing with his daughters. My first-born daughter gave me a number of tests that were of a most satisfactory character. Such were also given, I believe, to all the circle. * These meetings were to me, and, I believe, to the others, the most profitable and the most important I ever attended. A foundation was here laid upon which the religious structure of my after-life has been reared, which I expect to carry with me into the spirit-world, and have there the same assistance we had here in our circle, in the eternal progressive developments of the God-given powers bestowed upon us. We most sincerely believed that for several months we had been in communication with a spirit of high intellectual and moral development from the upper spheres. His teachings had a most hallowed influence upon our hearts, and we hope 42 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. upon our lives, ever since. I had never been so much bene- fited spiritually, by any associations I have ever enjoyed. I look back now through the lapse of more than a quarter of a century with unspeakable joy to those days as being the bright- est that had ever dawned upon my religious horizon. Faith in immortality was lost in knowledge, by facts indisputable to all un- prejudiced minds who thus investigate this glorious philosophy. I was then stationed at one of the largest Methodist churches in the South, with a membership of over five hundred, to whom on Sunday, from the pulpit, I avowed my conviction of the truth of Spiritualism, and from that day to the present I have been known and recognized by all as a believer in spirit com- munion between the natural and spiritual worlds. Being desir- Ous to know more of this heaven-born truth, I determined to heed the advice given me by my Spirit Mother. She wrote me privately through our medium thus: “Your interest in this matter has been great, but your labor has been smiled upon, and we hail your arrival in the field with joy. You will soon leave Memphis. Investigate this subject at the North. There it is generally known and understood. You will look back upon this summer with pleasure, for you shall open the eyes of men, for their eyes are closed, or they see through a glass but dimly. I, too, have been at your circle, have heard the teachings of mystery sometimes received by strangers as pearls cast before swine, but to your circle as gems from another and a better land.” “You have a good medium in your own family. You should make her practice. She will become quite an interest- ing medium. Now, my son, I shall be with you in all your journeyings, and in time of danger protect you ; but trust to One greater than I, for He is the only one on whom you should rely. Farewell. SUSANNAH WATSON.” I went to St. Louis and called to see a Dr. Scott, who was a medium. He did not tell me all that I ever did, but he told THE HARMONY OF RELIGIONS. 43 me enough to convince me that he knew, or there were some present who told him, of my antecedents. I never saw him before or since; he has been long gone to the spirit-world. He was a remarkable Clairvoyant and Clairaudient. He told me he saw a band of spirits with ne as I entered his door, and many things, if not “unlawful” to tell, would not become me to do so. One, however, I will mention. He said, “These spirits will make you preach from a text you never preached from before, the next time you preach.” I attached no impor- tance to this, and do not think it ever entered my mind until after its fulfillment. I went to Chicago, but received nothing worth relating there. The first night I spent in New York was with an old schoolmate. His partner's wife was a fine medium. She was controlled, and spoke much to me by what professed to be some of those who were said to be with me. At any rate, the control seemed to be familiar with my history, and told me some things similar to those Dr. Scott had in St. Louis.” Here I met for the first time Miss Emma Hardinge, now Mrs. Britten. She had but recently come over from England. Quite a number of Memphians went together to see her. She took us one at a time, and gave each one some very satisfac- tory tests, as to our spirit friends who were with us. Her man- * While in New York I went to old “John Street M. E. Church.” This was the first Methodist church built in America. I had never been there, nor have I any idea that there was a person there who ever * saw me before but the schoolmate who went with me. The church was filled. Soon after we had taken our seats the minister came down from the pulpit and insisted that I should go with him in the pulpit. After being seated he said, “You must preach for me.” I told him I had nothing to preach about. He insisted, and finally I told him if he would give me the text he was going to preach from I would preach from it. This he did, and I preached with unusual liberty from his text. Soon after I sat down, I felt sensibly impressed. “We told you we would make you preach from a text you never preached from before.” I could not understand it. 44 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. ner of communicating I had never seen before, nor have I ever seen it since. Her hand was extended in the air, her forefinger pointing out, making the letters, she reading them to us. From here I went to Boston. The Davenport brothers, then boys, had recently come to the city. I went with Dr. Gard- ner to see them. They were in a room some 16 to 18 feet square. There were but few persons present. A cord was put through the button-hole of each one, so that no one could move without all knowing it. There were quite a num- ber of musical instruments, including a drum and a violin. Soon after the light was extinguished, these instruments, con- stituting a fine band of music, commenced playing. They were carried around, up to the ceiling, and at the request of any one would play in front of them. John King was the controlling spirit. I talked with him considerably. This was the first audible conversation I ever had with one who had passed over. I have since met him on both sides of the Atlantic, as I shall refer to in its proper place. CHAPTER III. B I B L I C A L T E S T IM O N Y. BEFORE proceeding further, I wish to show from the Bible that from its earliest history to the close of the book, angels or mem appeared to mortals under every dispensation. One took his position at the entrance of the terrestrial Paradise, with a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the tree of life (Gen. iii. 24). They appeared to Abraham, and gave him and Sarah prom- ise of a son, and ate and conversed with him (xviii. 3). They appeared to Lot and told of the ruin of the cities of the plain (19). One spoke to Hagar in the desert and pointed to a well of water, and commanded her to return to Abraham and submit to Sarah (xxi. 17.) An angel went before the serv- ant of Abraham to select a wife for Isaac (xxiv. 46). An angel spoke to Abraham to stay his hand in the sacrifice of his son Isaac (xxii. 11). They appeared to Jacob on his way to Mesopotamia, forming a ladder of ascent and descent, typical of the intercourse between the two worlds (xxviii. 12). One taught him how to secure the differently marked kine (xxxi. to, 11). One wrestled with him all night on his return from Mesopotamia. An angel speaketh with Moses from a burning, unconsumed bush (Exodus iii. 6, and Acts vii. 25). An angel went before the camp of Israel, removed, and went behind them in their journeyings from Egypt to Canaan (Ex. xiv. 19, 22, 34, xviii. 2). One with a drawn sword in his hand appeared to Joshua, (45) 46 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. who said he was captain of the Lord's hosts (Joshua v. 13). One appeared to Manoah’s wife and told her of the birth of Sam- son, and told him he was a man. A man of God came unto Eli (Saml. ii. 27, 33). And there came a man of God (1 Kings xiii. 1), called a man of God ten times: “It is the man of God.” And there came a man of God and spake to the King of Israel (xxii. 28). An ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand (xxii. 23). And the Spirit entered into me, when he spake unto me; I heard him that spake unto me (Ez. ii. 2). And behold a hand was sent unto me (Daniel v. 5). In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand and wrote. And the king saw the hand that wrote (Ezra ix. 2). Six men (Daniel viii. 13). Saints (ix. 21). “The man Gabriel ” (x. 5). A certain man (Zach. v. 7). A woman (9). Two women came out. They are called “MEN,” “MAN,” “LORD" and “GoD.” There is scarcely a book in the Old or New Testament in which these beings are not found. An angel visited the mothers of John the Baptist and of Jesus, and informed them of their coming and their mission They announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. Moses and Elias talked with Jesus, James, John, and Peter on the mount of Transfiguration. They appeared at His resurrection and ascension—“two men.” An angel opened the prison doors and brought Peter and the Apostles out (Acts v. 19 ; vii. 30, 35); Stephen burning bush (x. 3, 3e); Cornelius, angel-man came to him (xii. 8, 9, 15); Peter delivered from prison (xvi. 9); Man of Macedonia went immediately (Paul to Hebrews); the law was given by an angel. One of the old prophets made the closing revelation to John on the Isle of Patmos. Thus we see that spirit-communion forms the basis of He- brew, Jewish, and Christian religions, as well as other religions. These communications extend over a history of thousands of years, and are in harmony with universal law, which is in force in every age and nation. We are, therefore, not surprised to * BIBLICAL TESTIMONY. 47 find spiritual communion marking the tablet of every age and nation, reaching over the unsearchable past, and antedating all reliable history. Its altars stand or moulder in silent elo- quence upon the hill-tops of every land. Whenever books have been written of a sacred character among all peoples, communion between the visible and the in- visible worlds has been recognized. Ever since what is called death has removed human beings from external vision, they have returned to influence and help those whom they have left behind. Hence we find impressible persons through whom spirit-messages of wisdom and love have been received among all nations and ages. It is, how- ever, with the Bible manifestations that we have to do in the work before us. Christianity, as we understand it, stands upon precisely the same basis as Spiritualism, and whatever destroys modern manifestations must, with unprejudiced minds, do the same with ancient, though they may have become hoary with the veneration of antiquity. It may be desirable to mention a few of the examples of the manifestations of spirit presence which are related in the Bible under different heads according to the nature of the phe- nomena described. We shall thus be better able to show how they correspond with the modern phases of spirit me- diumship to be described hereafter. There are numerous instances of the exercise of spirit power over material objects—such as the rolling back of the stone from the door of Christ's tomb; releasing Peter from prison, his chains fall off and the prison gate opened “ of its own accord.” The same help was afforded to the other Apostles. David received instructions about the building of the Temple by spirit writing and drawing. “The pattern of of all he had,” he had “by the spirit.” Elijah wrote to Jehoram several years after he had passed away, as will be shown more fully. Writing without even mortal contact, such as we have nowadays frequently received in the presence of the mediums, as we shall have occasion to 48 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. * notice hereafter ; similar to the writing on the wall at the feast Belshazzar gave when he desecrated the holy vessels taken from Jerusalem. Spirit lights in different forms and sizes are constantly oc- curring at modern séances. Abraham saw, when he requested, a sign, a smoking fur- nace, and a lamp of fire. A pillar of fire guided the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness. * The trance state is one of frequent mention in the Old and New Testaments. Divination was practiced by Joseph, and Clairvoyance and Clairaudience by Samuel. Healing by spirit power was practiced under every dispensa- tion, and was one of the gifts mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. Samuel, Moses, Elias, and many others, returned after they had passed away, proving by ocular demonstration that they still lived in a state of consciousness. Both in the Old and New Testaments we find evidence that communicating with the spirit-world was then practiced pretty much in the same way as it is done in our day. Every phase of modern Spiritualism, except Spirit Photography, we find in the Bible. In the face of all these facts, is it not marvelously strange that many believers in the veracity of the Bible are the first to scout the idea that any sane man in this matter-of-fact nine- teenth century can attach credit to the accounts of modern spiritual phenomena, notwithstanding the number of living witnesses are a thousandfold greater than of those events of a similar character which they profess to believe P Consistency is a jewel very rarely found among this class of people. A true Spiritualist will be a close observer of phenomena appearing in the universe of materiality. Turn where you will, there is a continual manifestation of powers from the realms unseen. It is from such objective demonstrations that mankind are enabled to learn of the Infinite. Various state- ments are made in sacred history that appear so miraculous— so clouded with mystery as to preclude all possibility of BIBLICAL TESTIMONY. 49 acceptance, were it not for the objective phenomena by which mankind are brought in direct contact with the operations of those subtle forces of life. It is in this realm that the intellect- ual Spiritualist lives. Instead of the Bible being cast aside as worthless, with a clearer understanding of its principles and teachings, the old books of the Bible are regarded as a his- torical account of the race of people who claimed for them- selves the favoritism of Deity. By common consent, modern religious teachings use this portion only by way of reference, preferring that which is recorded at a later date, which is within the limit of human probabilities to comprehend. There are sublime truths contained in the teachings of Jesus. They are laden with the rich fruitage of spiritual philosophy, re- quiring only a knowledge of spiritual things to be understood. No Spiritualist can afford to cast aside those teachings, because they contain lessons of wisdom and inculcate principles of ac- tion which will bear the most rigid scrutiny of every phase of skepticism. If the principles there laid down were adopted by mankind, they would make better men and women, better hus- bands and wives, better parents and children, better rulers and subjects, In a word, they recognize the Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man. It is evident, however, that in this age something more is needed to satisfy the cravings of the human mind—something by which the mind can be brought into closer relationship with the subtle forces that are met with on every hand in the journey of life. Turn where you will, the demand is heard for more light—more knowledge of the relationship between man and his fellow-man, and between man and his Creator. sº The Spiritualists of to-day, by the awakening power that comes to them from spirit realms, are led to inquiry, to in- vestigation; and as a result, the mind becomes unfolded and enlarged; the whole being becomes charged with the Divine presence. Out of this condition new elements will be born, and a highway be established between the matelial and spirit worlds. CHAPTER IV. W R IT I N G M E D I U M S . THERE are many phases of mediumship, but that of writing is the simplest and most convenient. This faculty is often found in children and infants. One of the most remarkable cases is the infant, only a few months old, of Mrs. Jenkins, for- merly Miss Kate Fox. An invisible agency places the pencil in his hand, and writes sensible, truthful communications. These instances, however, are very rare. They might occur fre- quently if efforts were made to accomplish it with them. The way for any one to test his or her capacity to write, is to make the trial. This may be done in a circle, or by sitting quietly alone for say half an hour regularly at the same hour three or four times a week. The process is a simple one. It consists solely in placing pencil and paper on a table or desk in the position of writing. Avoid everything that can interpose with the free motion of the hand. It is preferable that the hand should not rest on the paper. The point of the pencil should rest on the paper sufficient to trace, but not enough to experi- ence any resistance. These precautions are only given as the preliminaries. When the person has come to write easily, no obstacle can arrest it. It is best not to ask for or expect any particular spirit to control the hand to write, but be perfectly passive and willing to receive anything from any one who has the power to use your hand to write. A more effectual means to develop a writing medimm con- sists in a number of persons, all animated by the same desire and a community of intention, uniting in a meeting two or three (5O) WRITING MEDIUMS. 5 I times a week, promptly at the same hour, and sitting quietly around with hands on a table. The magnetism of the circle may be concentrated on one individual, which will be known by an involuntary jerking of the arm or hand, which is evidence that the person thus affected has mediumistic powers, and if persevering effort be made, will be developed into a writing medium. It is very seldom that among the number some one is not found who will give prompt signs of mediumship, or even write easily in a short time. We have been connected with a number of circles thus formed in private families, and have never known a failure to develop one of the number as a good writing medium. The best we have ever known were developed in the course of a few evenings' sittings. Persons united by a community of intention and desire, with good, pure motives, and a sincere desire to know the truth, will rarely fail if they will persevere. Our most successful efforts have always been preceded by prayer. To say nothing of the powerful influence of this agency on any other being, it has a harmonizing influence on the parties themselves ; sing- ing will have a tendency to produce the same result. Harmony is the great law of the spiritual world. Purity of intention and good-will to all will greatly facilitate success. Usually the first indication of a disposition to write is a kind of trembling in the arm and hand; little by little the hand is carried along by an impulse that is involuntary. It often traces but insignificant signs, then characters are drawn more and more clearly, and it ends by acquiring the rapidity of ordinary writing. The hand must be abandoned to its natural movement—neither resisting nor propelling. The primary point consists in putting one's self with a sin- cere faith under the protection of God, and in ploring the as- sistance of one's guardian angel, who is ever ready to assist in effecting the object. Purely mechanical writing is very rare ; it is more or less mixed with intention. The medium having a consciousness of what he writes, is naturally prone to doubt his 52 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. faculty; he does not know if it comes from himself or a foreign spirit. He need not be disquieted, and should continue all the same. Let him observe with care, and he will easily recog- nize in what he writes a crowd of things not in his thought— that are even contrary to it—evident proof that they do not come from himself. Let him then continue, and doubt will be dissi- pated by experience. sº From the commencement of my investigation of this subject, I have been witnessing the development of this phase of manifestation. The first I ever saw was our colored servant- girl, in 1855. She could neither read nor write, yet she wrote in the identical handwriting of the spirit having charge of our circle, known as “Mystery,” who professed to control her. A pencil placed between a pair of scissors would write, while she simply held them with one hand. A number of persons tried with the same pencil and scissors, and both hands, and, with all their efforts, could not make even a mark. It would fall. I have been connected with a number of circles for the develop- ment of mediums, and have never known one that was not a success in from one to four or five sittings, of an hour or two. One of the most interesting I ever witnessed was with only three persons. In less than an hour one of them was controlled by several of her friends, giving tests of their identity. Though over seven years have elapsed, they have controlled this me- dium ever since, for the family and special friends. One other case I will mention, in which I was a participant. I was requested by a friend to meet with a few persons at the house of an officer of the United States Army, who was stationed on the Mexican border before the war. He was an avowed materialist. As soon as I went in he told me his views, which were anything but Spiritualistic. There were six of us —two on each side of the table, and he at one end and his daughter at the other. Soon after we sat down he com- menced shaking—his arms being thrown around violently. ..Two men could not hold him. This continued for some min- & WRITING MEDIUMS. 53 utes, when he became quieted. A pencil and paper were brought, and his hand was controlled, writing in the Spanish lan- guage. It purported to come from a lady whom he had known in Mexico. A number of tests were given as to her identity. The lamp had to be removed, leaving it so that no writing could be read until taken to the light. His daughter, understanding Spanish, translated and read it to us. When I asked if there were not others there, it was written, “There are a great many here, but they are all Americans but me.” A gentleman was present who had been in the navy dur- ing the war. He had a difficulty with one in the army, in Vir- ginia, as to which ranked the other. An interesting confab was kept up for some time between these parties. The last question asked by him of the invisible was, “Where did we meet last?” The correct answer was promptly given, “In Charleston, South Carolina.” The medium was then controlled by what purported to be Greenlaw, a prominent, old citizen of Memphis, whose body was then laid out at the Peabody Hotel. This, for the length of time (several hours), was a very interesting séance. This gentleman soon after joined the Methodist Church. The philosophy of this is, that the table is a good con- ductor of magnetism. Each person has their magnetic influ- ence. By sitting around a table, with their hands on it, the table conveys their magnetism to the one most susceptible to spirit control, and thus enables the spirits to possess the or- ganism of the sensitive, negative, or medium, and use their or- gans as they would their own—all in harmony with the laws of physiology, or the positive controlling the negative. Dr. J. V. Mansfield, of 61 West Forty-second Street, New York, stands at the head of the list of writing mediums as far as my investigation has gone. I have had more tests through his mediumship than from any other outside of my family. He is so well known to the Spiritualists and thousands of those who have tested his powers, that it is needless for me to say 54 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, that I have never seen any medium, through whom I have had so many tests, embracing a period of over a score of years. Some of these will be given in another place, and I think it probable that there are some who will, through his medium- ship, say something to the readers of this volume before it is finished. His answering questions propounded in sealed letters has been by far more extensive than any otherſ of whom I have ever heard. He is also clairvoyant—seeing those who control his hand to write. He was for a long time a Methodist class- leader, and has always maintained the reputation of a high- toned, upright, reliable gentleman. THE INDEPENDENT SLATE-WRITING. This phase is not so common or so easily obtained. It is, however, much more satisfactory to skeptics. A small particle of slate pencil is placed on a slate, and it is held under a table covered usually with a cloth. The theory of this is that the spirit materializes a hand, and, with it, does the writing. The hand is often put outside the covering (while the medium's hand is on the top of the table) and is seen to do the writing. We have had a number of this kind of mediums in Memphis. Among the first was Miss Clara Robinson, who, when a little girl, and for many years, converted many persons to a belief in spirit communion. Mrs. Miller has done considerable in that line also for sev- eral years. Mrs. Eldridge has been more public and more successful in convincing people. With her the spirits bring their pencil- writing between double slates. I have talked with her control freely in regard to the matter. He says there is no slate to them in the way of writing; that matter is no obstruction to spirit-writing, and that they can write as well with the slate pressed against the bottom of the table as for it not to touch it. Mrs. Simpson—for many years a resident of New Orleans, WRITING MEDIUMS. 55 but now of Chicago—is a fine slate-writing medium; also for a flowers, etc. I knew her in New Orleans. I met her at Dr. Spencer's, Battle Creek, Michigan, last summer. The doctor invited a committee of the most intelligent skeptics to test her powers in his parlor. There were ten gentlemen and seven ladies met in the afternoon. The skeptics sat with her around a table improvised for the occasion, consisting of a plank with some strips nailed to it for legs. After some slate-writing, one of them went into Mrs. Spencer's kitchen and got a glass fruit jar with metal top, which he screwed on as tight as he could. This was placed on the slate and put under the table. Soon the rapping was given to take it out, when a very large rose that does not grow in that climate was found inside the jar— the top screwed tightly on as it was. Some of the party asked for a snake to be brought, but she begged them not to request it, as she had been chased by a snake when a girl and it made her nervous. Others desired a fish. * Her Indian control wrote: “Me bring both of them.” A basin of water was brought and placed on the slate, and, in a few moments, a live eel was found therein. * On Sunday afternoon, in the presence of an estimated audi- ence of three thousand people, on the stand flowers were brought and presented to the parties for whom they were said to have been designed. That night, after I had lectured at the Opera House to a large audience, she came on the stage, and a quantity of flow- ers were brought and sent out annong the people. A jar with some water was placed on the slate, with the top fastened se- curely. A fish was brought and put in it. Those who sat near the table said they heard the pouring of water in the jar with the fish. It was in that house that a gentleman offered her fifty dollars to bring a certain flower, and it was brought promptly to him. She is the lady who accepted the challenge of the St. Louis 56 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. editor, went alone, and came off victorious. She is a bold, independent, slate-writing and flower medium. The best slate-writing medium to convince skeptics I have ever seen is a Mr. Watkins, of Cleveland, Ohio. I called to see him last summer with Mr. Lewis. A number of gentlemen were there. He told them all to go into another room but my- self. He made several ineffectual attempts at writing. Finally this was written : “The fault is not with you; but the medium has had no sleep for two nights. We must have vitality or we can’t control. I want Mr. Lewis to come back, Mollie.” Mr. Lewis was called, and we found Mr. Watkins had been sitting up with his sick wife two nights, and had to be sent for to come to his office to meet his appointment. He gave me a double slate entirely free from any mark. I held it as high as I could reach in the air. Soon we heard the scratch of the pencil. On opening, we found “Theo. Parker,” written in a bold, plain hand, “I give you this as a test.” That was rubbed out and the slate handed to Mr. Lewis. We could hear the pencil for some time writing, when, opening it, a com- munication from Mr. Lewis' wife, who had been dead only a few weeks, was seen. Mr. Lewis said it was in the handwriting of his wife, with a fac-simile of her signature. There was another communica- tion, with the same proofs of identity, from his daughter, who had passed away several years since. There was also a communication from my brother, who died of yellow fever in 1878. Here was no possibility of any fraud or collusion. I have no idea that Mr. Watkins knew any- thing of either of the parties. Mr. Lewis was some six or eight feet from him, with the slate held as high as he could reach in Sunlight. This is the same medium who has been recently so severely tested by Rev. Joseph Cook and his party of five skeptics in Mr. Epes Sargent's library, Boston. In those experiments the committee certify “that two slates WRITING MEDIUMS. 57 were clamped together with strong brass fixtures, and held at arm's length by Mr. Cook, when a message was found on the inner surfaces. I have read with much interest his lectures as published in the Christian Advocate of New York, which will reach a large number of people who never see a spiritual paper. He has done more to put that class to thinking than any other man. All that Spiritualism wants is an investigation, and, if under favorable circumstances, conviction of its truth will follow the honest inquirer after it. 3* CHAPTER V. PHENOMENA CONTINUED. FROM a careful comparison of the communications, and the manner through which they are received, I am satisfied that the phenomena of modern Spiritualism are similar to that recorded in the Bible. The table on which the tiny raps are heard has a significance in Biblical history that few have been prepared to appreciate. It was through tables that God, by the ministry of angels, com- municated His commandments to the children of Israel, giving them the wise and holy law of the Decalogue; and it has been through those tables that many of the wisest nations of the earth have acknowledged their duty to God, to their brother nations, and to themselves. Then, if a peculiar people re- ceived communications on tables from the great Spirit of the universe by angelic spirit Imanifestations, why may not in divid- uals receive communications from good spirits of the spirit- world for their good on tables under this dispensation ? If spirits partook of natural food with righteous Lot (as he is called) at his table, why may not we be permitted to feast with spirits on spiritual things in a spiritual era P Let us therefore look at the table service, as recorded in the New Testa- ment, and see if we do not recognize it as one of the great features of the Gospel of Christ. The daily ministrations which were instituted in the organization of the Church were circles or séances of believers, for they met daily in their houses, as Jesus had told them that where two or three are (58) PHENOMENA. 59 gathered together in His name, there would He be in the midst of them. - From the time of the ordination of seven prophets, or me- diums, to the table service by the apostles, the Church in- creased and the disciples multiplied greatly. Many of the priests, whose prejudices were perhaps stronger than any other class against this sect, seeing the wonders, signs, and miracles wrought by these mediums, were converted to the faith, and cast their lot with the persecuted followers of the Nazarene. “And Stephen, full of faith, and power, did great wonders among the people.” This was the business to which Ste- phen and his associates were called, and not merely to hand around the bread and the wine at the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Since the table service is again established on earth, with its signs and wonders, it is evident that the table service of modern Spiritualism is the table service of prinitive Chris- tianity now established annong the nations. As the table is the center around which friends and kindred meet, to feast and commune in friendship and love in earth- life, so angels and spirits make the table the center around which we meet and hold communion with the spirits of our departed friends, who have passed on before, and who wait to welcome us over the river of life to their blissful abode on the other shore. These spiritual feasts I have enjoyed for more than a score of years in our own quiet home. Some of those who used to meet around our table have passed over, but have returned to our family “Bethel,” not as they used to do, clad in mortal garb, but in the habiliments of spirit-life, telling us of their happy home, and of the deep interest they still feel in our welfare. As the table is the instrument round which we neet to sat- isfy the natural appetite of the body, so our spirit friends make the table the implement on which they usually communicate to those around it. The living mortals and the spirit immor- 6o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. tals can meet and satisfy the spiritual appetites of the soul in sweet communion with each other, thus lifting the veil between the natural and the spirit worlds. To show that the table is a spiritual as well as a natural im- plement, Jesus said to His disciples: “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom” (Luke xxii. 29, 30). In this scripture Jesus has informed us that there are tables in the spirit-world, and if we are found worthy, we shall eat and drink at His table in His kingdom. The two tables received by Moses—one contained the duties we owe to God, the other for man's duty to his fellow-man, and the two tables being joined together were as one, and were called the tables of the covenant, uniting God and man, Heaven and earth, in one. And as these tables show the spiritual union of God and man, as the great table service of the Jewish natural dispensation, so the still greater table serv- ice of Christ and the Apostles show the spiritual dispensation which was instituted, not only for holding communication with spirits, that men might so hear and know by conversing with their departed friends, that there is a glorious, happy land, beyond where they that do His commandments, as John says, shall have right to the tree of life and partake of its fruit. For many years we have had mediums in our family, through whom we have kept up intercourse, to the present time, with our spirit friends. This has afforded us more real happiness than we ever enjoyed from any other source whatever. Our “home altar” has indeed been, as Jacob said, the gate of Heaven to us. e Spirit-writing is much more common in our day than it was in Biblical times, for the obvious reason that comparatively few persons could write in those days. If they could not write before passing over, it is not probable that they could com- municate through this means from the other shore. We have enough, however, of Biblical history to show conclusively that PHENOMENA. * 61 a number of communications were written by persons who had laid aside their mortal covering. There are three ways by which spirit-writing is produced. First, by materialized spirit hands; second, by the will power of spirits impressing the brain of the medium as the mechanical part of it progresses; third, by the medium's hand being controlled by the spirit magnetizing it, and using it as though it was its own hand. I think all three of these modes were used in Biblical times. The first by materialized hand is brought to view in Daniel v. 5: “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the hand that wrote.” There are thousands of living witnesses to this kind of spirit-writing. It has been witnessed in Memphis for many years. The spirit will not only materialize the hand and write loving messages to friends, giving tests of their identity, but will shake hands with those present; their hands looking and feeling as natural as any mortal’s. I mention one of many incidents which have occurred in my own house. A Methodist preacher, a member of the North Miss. Conference, and his wife, were spending a few days with us. They occupied a room in the south end of the third story. About noon, on a clear day, a little girl came to see us. At my request she went up to the preacher's room, into which she had never been. His shawl was spread over a small writing-table. A slate was held by her under the cloth with a small piece of pencil placed on it. A materialized hand wrote a number of messages, which the preacher said were from his father, long since passed to the spirit-land. A hand double the size of the girl's was extended from under the shawl, show- ing it in sunlight some distance up the wrist. This hand shook hands with the minister, his wife, and others who were present. It possessed a strength which was tested stronger than one or two of those whom it embraced. 62 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. None could for a moment believe that this child had any more than a passive agency in this phenomenon, which was similar to the one recorded in olden time, and both were in har- mony with the law of materialization. None of the company had ever witnessed anything of the kind before, yet all were con- vinced that there could be no fraud or collusion in what they had seen and felt, in this their first experience of hand-shaking with those who had been a number of years in the spirit-land. It is often the case that materialized spirits will take a pencil and write communications to parties present when the entire form is visible to all present. One of the most remarkable instances of spirit-writing on record in the Bible, is the letter that Elijah wrote to Jehoram, king of Judah (see 2 Chronicles xxi. 24). Elijah's translation was about the time of Ahaziah's death, and it is therefore between it and the beginning of Ahab's son, Jehoram's, reign (2 Kings i. 18; iii. 1), which this last quota- tion expressly states was “in the eighteenth year of Jehosha- phat, king of Judah.” Therefore at Elijah's translation Jehosha- phat could not have reigned more than seventeen and a half years, after which he must have reigned seven and a half years to have made up his twenty-five years (2 Chron. xx. 31). This son, Jehoram, succeeded him, and reigned eight years (2 Chron. xxi. 5–20), from which account of his wickedness given in this chapter, both before and after his reception of the writing and his two years of sickness of which he died, this writing seems plainly to have been sent to him about the mid- dle of his reign. This gives him four years of wicked ruling before its reception, and two years after it, and two years' sickness, whereof he died, as the writing predicted. We there- fore sum up the testimony thus : 1st. After Elijah's translation, Jehoshaphat, the father of Je- horam, reigned seven years. 2d. After Jehoshaphat's death, his son, Jehoram, before re- ceiving Elijah's letter, reigned four years. PHENOMENA. 63 3d. From Elijah's translation to his writing and sending this , letter, eleven years. * * Therefore the translated prophet Elijah did, according to Biblical testimony, write and send a letter to Jehoram, king of Judah, after being in the spirit-world at least ten years. -* The Bible, therefore, clearly proves, and sanctions— . Ist. The communications of those who have passed over to the spirit-world with those who remain in this world. 2d. That Spiritualism or spirit-writing is proven beyond the possibility of a doubt by Biblical history. 3d. That the same universal law by which this prophet wrote to the king of Judah is now, and ever has been, in exist- ence; hence we have thousands of communications written by those who have gone to the spirit-world, addressed to those who remain in their earth-life. In this letter we find a strong resemblance to the writing on the wall of Belshazzar's palace for an object exactly similar. In both cases these kings were reproved for their wickedness, and warned of their approaching destruction. The warning in both cases was given in writing and from celestial messengers. In the latter case we are told who the writer was. In the case of Belshazzar we are especially shown how the writing was done, but we are not told by whom it was done; but as an eminent Jewish prophet did the writing to Jehoram, a king of his peo- ple, it is probable that some ancient seer of Babylon, with his materialized hand, which the king saw, did the writing on the wall. This case also proves that spirit-writing was done among the ancient Babylonians, who were idolaters, and what are called pagans. Showing that then, as now, those whom we denomi- nate as heathen are, and have been, the recipients of communi- cations from the spirit-world. I could give other cases of spirit-writing in the Bible, but think that these two, so clearly set forth, are sufficient to con- vince the unprejudiced mind of the truth of that manner of 64 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. communicating which was known and practiced not only by the Jews, but the heathen nations of that age. Let those who wish to pursue this subject further turn to the 28th chapter of 1st Chronicles, where an account is given of David receiving the pattern of the temple and its furniture, which he says he re- ceived in writing through a spirit. It was done by the author- ity of God's direction. Therefore God sanctions spirit-writing. CHAPTER VI. M A T E R I A LI Z. A TI O N . THis is the demonstrative phase of spiritual phenomenon. It is found in the history of all religions. It is recorded in patri- archal, mosaic, and prophetic dispensations of the Old Testa- ment, and forms the basis of the Christian dispensation. It was the last test we demanded of our spirit friends in our early investigation, to show themselves to me in the daytime, and let there be others present who shall see you. In order for this to be done they must clothe themselves, temporarily, with matter, for the natural organs of sight can not behold a spirit. This is done by subtle laws, of which we know but little, only the fact is susceptible of demonstration as other facts of which our senses take cognizance. . I have seen particles, which by rapid motion were brought together, and in a very short time a human face appeared in a room where there was no mortal. This was witnessed by a number of persons in an adjoining room, in Memphis. If we examine the process by which nature does its work, light may be shed upon the subject. When we look abroad over the world, and see in the three great kingdoms of nature, in obedience to universal laws, how everything is working steadily, but surely, to the accomplish- ment of grand results, we behold the wisdom of the Great Architect of the physical universe displayed whenever we turn our eye and thoughts upon His works, to say nothing of the his- tory given by the “testimony of the rocks,” and the demonstra- (65) 66 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. tions of geology as to the formation of our earth, in obedience to those laws requiring unknown ages to accomplish the grand results that we find in every part of the world. Let us look at the vegetable and animal kingdom as illustrating the principle of materialization continually before our eyes in perfection. See the sturdy oak that has stood the storms for more than a century—where did it come from ?—whence did it originate P Its spirit was in the acorn ; its germ-life was there hidden, but brought forth by the soil, and nourished by its concentration of atoms from the atmosphere : we have materialization on a grand scale, from year to year gathering more matter and fur- nishing thousands of acorns with life-germs for as many more trees like the parent. Look at the ten or twelve seeds in an apple—plant them, and perhaps each one will produce a new variety of fruit, with its peculiar characteristics. It grows as other trees, throughs . materialization from the atmosphere of matter. Every leaf has a germ-life precisely like its parent, which, when budded into another kind, will bring forth just the same fruit of the parent stock, with seeds to bring forth endless varieties of apples, all harmoniously at work by the law of materialization. So with the numerous varieties of roses planted in the same soil—each gathers from the atmosphere its peculiar color and fragrance by the same law; a bud taken from one and inserted in another kind, grows, maintaining its own peculiarities, so that on one bush you may, by the process of budding, have a bouquet of all the roses in the garden, each maintaining its own peculiarities, though growing on the same stock and nourished by the same sap, yet each gathers from the atmosphere that which consti- tutes its own peculiar tint and fragrance. When we look into the animal kingdom, we behold the same law of materialization in operation from the smallest to the largest animal. It is with humanity, however, that we have the .deepest interest in illustrating this universal principle. How- ever erroneous the commonly received account of the origin of MATERIALIZATION. 67 man, as given in Genesis, may be, there is the most important truth stated there, that “God breathed into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul.” Spirit is the basic principle of humanity; it is the real, being covered, so to speak, by mat- ter, in which it grows and develops during its earth-life, and what is called death throws it off, or to quote the language of Solomon speaking of this change, “Then shall the dust return to the earth, as it was, and the spirit to God who gave it.” A very important question arises right here—one that was asked me publicly at the grove meeting near Cleveland, Ohio —When does life begin P Our answer was, “At conception.” I am aware that there is a large class of intellectual people who argue that if life ever had a beginning, it will have an end- ing. At first this looks reasonable from a materialistic stand- point, but not from a spiritual one. It is true, we know but little of spirit—only it is that which is permanent, the real, not made or controlled by the laws of matter in materialization. The best material agents to give us any idea of spirit, are electricity and magnetism, and yet how little do we know of the subtile laws which govern in this realm. If, however, I had to argue with the materialist, as from his stand-point, I would assume that electricity and magnetism had been in existence from eternity, and that man's immortal part was individualized from them as something of a kindred nature, which could never die and was not subject to the laws pertaining to matter on this plane or in the spirit-world. But we are not now noticing man's real self, but simply his clothing. This has been made for him by the concentrating of particles of matter, taking on and throwing off continually, through his whole earth-life. He is a materialized spirit, and at the change called death he is dematerialized. It will be clearly seen that matter is the evanescent, fading, and changing, in all the kingdoms of nature. Take the solid granite from the “everlasting hills.” Apply heat sufficiently thereto, and we form a liquid; increase it and you generate 68 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. gas or thin air, and so with metals, and everything above the earth heated sufficiently will decompose, or cause a return to the original elements, and again be reconstructed in other bodies. What requires years to accomplish by natural laws, by the process of growth, may be effected temporarily in a very short time, as facts fully demonstrate in sacred and pro- fane history. The laws governing these temporary organiza- tions are not understood by mortals. I have consulted spirits in regard to them, and they say it is a “spiritual chemistry,” so to speak; that they have in the spirit-world the power, and take the matter of which these materializations are composed from several sources: First and mainly from the medium, whom they usually entrance, and then the quickest and best manifestations occur, hence they have often the features of the medium. Second, from the parties present who may be medi- umistic and from whom they draw, and from the atmosphere which contains the particles of matter that are being constantly thrown off from the bodies of every one present at the seance. The rapidity with which this work is done, is truly wonderful, and would be incredible if we had not witnessed it hundreds of times under conditions which render deception utterly impossible. I have had in my own library the medium tied securely and dressed in dark clothing, examined by a committee of ladies, who declare she had nothing out of which any deception could be practiced. I have had the most scientific physicians ex- amine her, and pronounce her to be in a cataleptic state, in- capable of performing any voluntary action, and yet in an al- most inconceivably short time, persons draped in white, two, and sometimes three, at a time, while the medium was appar- ently dead behind the curtain hung up in the corner of a brick room, would walk out in the presence of from ten to fifty per- sons. I can not account for these materializations, but the facts are as well attested as any other facts of which the senses take cognizance. Dematerializations occur with the same rapidity. These oc- MATERIALIZATION. 69 cur often when the forms are several feet from the curtain, pass- ing apparently down through the floor, and sometimes when a circle of mortals has been made around a form, it has gone down out of sight, in some instances when the same has been in another room from thirty to forty feet from the medium. Man- ifestations similar to these occurred with Jesus, and they have been received as true by the churches in all ages. He appeared in the room when the door was shut, and vanished out of sight when they sat at the table, after having asked a blessing upon the food of which they were about to partake. The resurrection and materialization of Jesus is the foun- dation upon which the whole-Christian superstructure has been reared. It is the great phenomenal fact that first convinced His disciples and followers of the spiritual nature of the king- dom. He came to establish. He was seen at one time by more than five hundred who were witnesses to the people of that day and generation. So it is with the materialization of this age. It is the key- stone of the spiritual arch, which brings to the senses not only ocular, but tangible demonstration of the truth of the return of those who have passed from mortal sight through what we call death. They return temporarily clad, as in earth-life, for the purpose of driving the last vestige of materialistic infidelity from the earth. It is accomplishing this as rapidly, perhaps, as it should be done. Many of the most intellectual giants of that school in Europe are investigating, and some have already given their adherence to this glorious truth of the nineteenth century, that there is no death, but a birth to a higher life of im- mortality for the human family. I could fill a volume with what I have witnessed during the eight years I have been investigating this phase of manifesta- tion. Important as these may be to convince skeptics of the truth of immortality, it is but the alphabet of this glorious, heaven-born philosophy. The first I ever saw was in 1872, in Memphis, Mrs. Hollis the medium. 7o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. .* My wife's father, who was a Methodist preacher, and my spirit-wife, were the only ones, out of some twelve or fifteen, that we knew. Both looked about as natural as they did in earth-life. My present wife had never seen my former one, only her portrait, yet as soon as she appeared, she said to me, “That's Mollie.” It was in daylight, with a number of per- sons some of whom were materialists, yet all saw the forms, as we did. My next experience was in London in 1873. I went with Mr. J. Burns to one of Mr. Williams' seances. Saw and talked to “John King.” His features are very distinct, so that once seen the impression is indelible. I saw and talked freely with him, while the medium (Mr. Holmes) was in an iron cage. This was at the Centennial in Philadelphia, in 1876. I have seen my spirit-wife, children, and friends scores of times, often in daylight, with many persons present. I will copy what I published in the Spiritual Magazine in 1875, of one of the first times she appeared with Mrs. Miller, who had no cabinet, only four blankets on a frame, movable to any place : “Our former wife, draped in purest white, turned aside the blanket, and walked outside, clapping her hands in ecstasy as she retired. She then brought out a child in her arms, took a seat in a common chair (not a rocker), and rocked the child some time. She then sat it on the floor, and left it for a few moments, then taking it inside. We were then requested to come to the cabinet, when we shook hands, she kissing ours several times. Our eyes were not more than six inches apart, and her eyes looking as natural as in earth-life. We felt of her face, which seemed as natural as it ever did, and about the same temperature of our hand. We said, “Mollie, can't you talk to me P’ when she whispered, ‘No.’ “Soon after returning to our chair, she came out again, ad- vancing toward us. We met and kissed her as naturally as we ever did. A child turned aside the blanket, and stood some MATERIALIZATION. 71 time in full view of us all. During this time it expanded in size to perhaps double what it was when it first came out. “This to us was the most satisfactory seance we had ever witnessed. A number of other things occurred, but what we have related was the most interesting to us. “Being desirous to hear what our dear ones had to say about that meeting, we requested our home medium to give them an opportunity after church the next night. We copy a portion of what was written. Though of a personal character, it will doubtless be read with interest by those who are investi- gating this subject. Facts, indisputable facts, are what we are seeking for, and we feel more solicitous to know what our spirit friends say about them than we do about what our earth friends may think or say in regard to them, hence we give their views: “‘My DEAR SAMUEL :— My joy of last night was just enough to give me an appetite for more of the same sort. Now, wasn't it a happy time P To you I know it was, and more to me, for I could see you better than you could me. I have never been better satisfied than I was last night with anything I ever did in all my life. You were gratified, and we were all rejoiced. I want now to see and talk with Johnnie and the girls, and when we can control the medium better, and draw sufficient power ourselves, I intend to have them all here in your library, and then it will be a union of dear ones, sure enough. We can do more than we have ever done, but time and patience are both necessary for the proper development. Now, don't think we are tardy, for we can’t control the medium just when we want to. There were many happy hearts last night, and I think I was the happiest of the happy.' “We asked what child that was who stood outside, and grew up while there, and she answered thus: “‘I can't tell which one you saw, for there were two. Sam- my, we suppose, was the one you saw ; at least, he thinks so. He is happy, too, over the conclusion.’ 72 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “‘Did you aim to show him as he was when he left us, and then show how he had grown up in spirit-life?' “‘That was the idea—the intention. All that was done was only to appear the most natural to you, as you well know of these little identities. MOLLIE.’” MATERIALIZATION OF WASHINGTON. I met with Mrs. E. L. Lewis, of Cincinhati, at the Centen- nial, when Washington materialized at Col. Kase's. She in- formed me that she was directed to go to Memphis for a similar purpose. I extended to her a cordial invitation to our home, which she accepted. I invited over fifty representative citizens, but no Spiritualist. *-4 We copy from Mrs. Shindler's book, “A Southerner among the Spirits": “OUR WASHINGTON. “Mrs. Iewis has arrived. This is the lady in whose presence the materialization of our beloved father and chief, George Washington, is accomplished. She is the honored guest of our good Dr. Watson, whose hospitable doors are ever open to all those who wish to give or receive information from the angel-world. Mrs. Miller's mediumship is now to be tested. In Dr. Watson's library, in a cabinet of simple construction, being formed of curtains attached to a frame, in one corner of the room, with a solid brick wall on two sides, after some fine music, Mrs. E. Watson presiding at the organ, and an earnest and affecting prayer from Dr. Watson, out stepped from the cabinet a fall, male figure, looking in every respect like the pictures of Washington with which we are so familiar. The effect was electrical. The outburst of emotion was so sudden and so loud as to be heard in the third story, and in the basement, causing considerable alarm to those who had been kept out of the room by household duties. This noble form stood quietly for a moment, as if to allow the emotion to subside, then reached for a flag which was waving from the MATERIALIZATION. 73 top of the cabinet, and after himself waving it toward the audience, he threw it across the room toward Dr. Watson. After retiring to the cabinet, he again came forth, and, hand in hand with Mrs. Lewis, he walked across the room, when I had the pleasure of clasping his holy hand. He came from the cabinet five times, each time remaining out a little while. Wishing to have a nearer view of his face, I was invited to ap- proach the aperture, which I did, bearing in my left hand one of the flags which he had handled, and which I now keep as a sacred relic. Arrived there, I said to him, ‘Bless me, oh my father Washington With one hand upon my head, and the other patting my cheek, he smiled, and bowed his head repeat- , edly. To me the face appeared luminous, and resembled the portraits of Washington, and yet there was a something which made one think of Mrs. Miller. When the subtle laws which govern this wonderful phase of spirit manifestations are better understood, we shall all know that every genuine materialization must partake, more or less, of the characteristics of the me- dium. But that the face upon which I was gazing, and the tall figure which I had seen, were not Mrs. Miller's face, nor Mrs. Miller's form, I am very certain. Dr. Watson was called to the aperture, and after gazing on the face, which he also pronounces luminous, two firm, manly hands took hold of his face on each side, and pressed it together distinctly three times. The spirit then spread the miniature flag over the Doctor's head, and with this decoration he returned to his seat.” I copy from the R. P. Journal a few lines of a letter from Mrs. Lewis : “Mrs. Watson played the organ, and we sang two or three hymns. And now what do you think took place P Why, out came Washington, with power. . In a moment he saw the flags with which we had adorned the cabinet. He took one and waved it repeatedly; then took me by the arm and walked all round the room. Some of the friends present cried ; some cheered; some jumped up and down and exclaimed, ‘Glory 4 74 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. to God, it is really our Washington ( ' He came out again and again, looking splendidly, and then Martha came out also in beautiful white robes. Dr. Watson is perfectly delighted, and I am so pleased with my success. Oh who can doubt after witnessing such manifestations under such test conditions P” While form manifestations are the most demonstrative of any phase of Spiritualism, and have been occurring in all ages, they require the utmost vigilance to prevent fraud upon the part of those who control them in both worlds. This phase is on the material plane, and we think that spirits near the earth are mostly engaged in it. That they will mis- represent the persons who appear, and often use the medium, without their knowledge, to personate the relative of some one present, we can not doubt. That man is dual, is almost universally admitted. That he is a trinity, though not so generally received, we believe is equally true. He has a material body adapted to the natural world, and that he has a spiritual body is plainly declared by St. Paul. When the natural body dies, the spiritual body is the Covering of the spirit proper, which mortal eyes can not be- hold. This trichotemy of which he is composed are but counter. parts of each other in appearance. We have believed and preached for more than a score of years that such was the independence of the inner man of the outer man, that the former could come out of, so to speak, and act independently of, the physical organization. There are thousands of facts which have been occurring in the histories of nations which can not be accounted for upon any other hypothesis. There is a second self, or double, which we possess, which can separate from, so far as the natural eye can determine, and act as the natural or material body, united, however, by an electri- cal cord, the sundering of which would produce the death of the physical body. * We have alluded to this subject in order to say a few words . MATERIALIZATION. 75 more in regard to what is commonly known as materialization. The double of the medium is a fruitful source of deception in this phase of Spiritualism. We will not for a moment question that there will be seen something of the medium in all the persons who appear. Their make-up is, to a great extent, dependent upon the medium for the material from which this temporary organization is effected. We have the highest spiritual author- ity for saying there has never been a materialization but that there was something of the medium seen in it. This will ex- plain many difficulties in the minds of those who have seen their friends possessing some resemblance to the medium. But while we admit this necessity, and that the more inhar- monious the conditions the more imperfect will be the mani- festations, or more like the medium, yet there is deception often practiced by controls, in palming off the double of the medium for a relative or friend of some one present. The medium may be honest, but being entranced, and under the control of spirits, may be entirely ignorant of the deception. Our spirit friends tell us that whenever we see two or more persons at the same time, they can not be the medium's double. Also that when we see children, they are not the medium's double. We repeat what we have previously said: Watch closely these materializations, and accept nothing as genuine which does not demonstrate its own truthfulness beyond all doubt. FROM THE “SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE’’ EDITORIALS. Having devoted much time to the investigation of that phase of Spiritualism known as materialization, for several years, we thought after our success with Washington, in our library recently, that we would suspend our investigations in that direction. This we have not done. We accepted an invita- tion to witness the baptism of an infant of Mr. and Mrs. Owen, by Mr. Shindler, formerly, when in earth-life, an Epis- Copal clergyman. Mrs. Miller, dressed in dark clothing, was 76 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, tied, as usual, and was soon entranced—apparently dead. A number of females dressed in white came from behind the curtain, shaking hands with us. We were particularly struck with one, known as the “Spirit Bride.” She was tall and graceſul, moving with dignity and ease across the room. She was magnificently dressed in white satin, with a trail some two feet or more long. When she turned round her dress made the usual noise of such goods. She was a fine specimen of female beauty and gracefulness. Just beside Mrs. Mary Dana Shindler, her husband, in his Episcopal robes, came out, taking the infant from its mother (Mrs. Owen), and bringing it to us, placed it in our arms. He then took it near where the mother sat, when it was named. Placing it on his left arm, his right hand extended as high as he could reach, he baptized it as naturally as a mortal man could have done. Mrs. S. said the performance was just as he used to baptize when officiating in the Episcopal Church. The next night they came to our house to give a séance. We had pretty good gas-light. The number of persons who came out dressed in white we can not say ; they did not move about with that caution so common in public assemblies, and seemed to have no fear, but made themselves very familiar with us. We asked them to stand with their backs against the wall, to be measured. Five of them complied with our request. We give the height of each one, as measured by J. W. Beau- mont, of Philadelphia. One female, four feet six inches; one four feet eleven inches; one five feet six inches; one three feet ten inches; one five feet nine inches; one man five feet ten inches. Mrs. Miller's height is five feet two and a half inches. It will be seen that none of them were of the same height as Mrs. Miller. There was much that occurred which was of thrilling interest to us, that we need not mention. They cut out pieces of their dress and gave us—beautiful white goods; it might be of the same kind mentioned in the Bible as the clothing of the saints—in “fine linen”—or like MATERIALIZATION. 77 the young man’s “long white garment” seen by the Marys at the sepulchre. We could write much about these seances, but have said enough to show honest people that we were not deceived as to our realizing the presence of a considerable number of persons from the spirit-world. What most highly interested us was the appearance of our wife's first husband, and our dear little Sammie, on that occa- sion. Less than a year before the cherub boy was in this library every evening, in joyous glee, singing with others, walking the floor with his book, keeping time with the music. When very much delighted, he would jump up in ecstasy. This night the darling boy came out to the table, some one handed him some candy, when he jumped up as in earth-life, showing that he was not in Elmwood Cemetery, but with us still, around our home circle, and able to manifest himself to us as in other days. wº MATERIALIZATION OF WASHINGTON. Having been invited to witness a séance with Mrs. Miller as the medium, we deviated from our purpose and attended. There were about fifteen persons present, several of them to us strangers. Soon after the medium went behind the curtain, dressed in dark clothing, a number of female forms came out, dressed in purest white. They passed around amongst us, shaking hands with us, and making themselves very familiar with us; they went into an adjoining room, the folding doors of which were open, and brought a number of things out and gave them to us. They played on the piano, violin, and ac- cordeon, showing they were familiar with the use of those instruments. They took a number of the company in the other room, remaining with them for a considerable time, perform- ing a number of things as natural as mortals, passing into the other rooms and bringing articles from them to us. One of them brought a photograph album to us. It was intensely 78 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. warm, and one of them brought a dipper of ice-water to each of us from an adjoining room, and after all had been waited on, she brought another and drank it herself very near us. One scene was very affecting. One of them was a young lady who passed away a few months since. She stood beside her mother for some time; she then came to her physician, who lived near her and knew her intimately. He sat nearest us. We stood up close together, shaking hands and examining her. We asked him if he recognized her; he replied that he did, calling her by name. They held up the curtain a number of times and let us see Mrs. Miller, apparently dead, while they stood beside her. One of them brought a chair near us and performed on the violin. Their object seemed to be to show us they were human as in earth-life. One of them went before a large looking-glass, combing her hair, spending considerable time arranging her toilet, while we, leaving our seat, watched her movements closely. The most interesting materialization was that of Washington. Skeptics will, of course, smile at our credulity, but we will state facts that will be attested by every one present. A large, manly form, resembling Washington, came out, dressed in military costume. Walking up near us, he took off his hat, bowing gracefully to us. Hè stood up with one of the tallest doctors in the city, who said the form was higher than he was. He was asked to come out with his Masonic regalia. Stepping behind the curtain a moment, he came out as a Ma- son. Taking a chair, he sat down beside our friend the doctor and ourself, each of us handling him. He not only looked like the Father of his Country, but felt like real flesh and bones as mortals have. We could write pages in regard to this séance, but the Thomases will not believe unless they can feel the forms and recognize the individuals themselves. This is being done by many all over the world. The next night, being our family circle meeting, our spirit wife wrote: “The séance last night was more powerful in re- MATERIALIZATION. 79 gard to genuine materializations than you are in the habit of. witnessing. Last night there were materializations which would have convinced our skeptical committee could they have witnessed them. Somehow or other these wonderful performances can never be effected when there is a necessity for them. This is because the conditions are always disturbed by the medium's wiry mentality. She gets wrought up to such a mental struggle as to make her subject to control of like peculiarities. They will in pose their control, because she is not able to resist, owing to the state of mind before entrance- ment. This is a mystery, but we in spirit-life feel the influence as much as you do, and can not bring our power upon her any more than you can to accomplish any desired object. We have been disappointed as often ; for we have often desired to accomplish that we failed to do, just because the medium was more subject to spirits who control for other than good pur- poses. Bear this in mind, and when you meet with failures, put it down to the influences above stated rather than an indis- position of your spirit friends to gratify your desires.” We asked her if that was Washington whom we saw last night. “It was so much of him as could be manifested through such magnetism.” While at the Centennial, I saw, under strict test conditions, very remarkable materializations at the second seance of Mr. Bliss; also through Mr. Holmes. Whilst lecturing there in May, 1878, I was the guest of Col. Kase and his good lady. At their hospitable mansion was a young lady, Miss Mary Holien, who was one of the best mediums I have ever seen. The spirits manifest themselves in various ways over the house. At her séances they bring her out and promenade with her; several seen at the same time. At one of the séances they materialized some very fine lace with great rapidity. Some of them showed themselves in bright gas-light with their fingers, wrists, and arms almost literally covered with splendid jewelry, ‘8o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. I witnessed many wonderful manifestations at Terre Haute, in June, 1879, with Mrs. Stuart and Miss Morgan—the latter under strict test conditions. Time and space would fail me if I were to write what I have seen. CHAPTER VII. BIBLE PROOF–DR. J. M. PEEBLES’ TESTIMONY—REV. THOMAS COLLEY'S EXPERIENCE. WE come now briefly to notice what the Bible says in regard to this phase of manifestation. Mankind want something tangible—something of which the senses can take cognizance. Thomas declared that he would not believe in the resurrection of Jesus unless his eyes could see and his hands feel the wounds made at the crucifixion. No matter how intellectual mankind may be, in the investigation of facts they depend very naturally upon their senses; and when these faculties unite in their testi- mony, there is no higher tribunal to which they can appeal to know the truth. This is why we have devoted so much time to this peculiar phase of the subject. Ours is called a Christian nation, and a very large propor- tion of our people profess to believe the Biblical history. However much they may live in the violation of its teachings, it wields an influence on the popular mind that no other book does. It will reach the masses and attract the attention more readily than facts drawn from any other source. This Book abounds with this phase of Spiritualism—from the “three men who stood by ” Abraham, whose feet he washed, and who ate the meal his wife prepared for them under the tree, all through the Old and New Testaments, to the angel who appeared to John in the Isle of Patmos. One of these materialized spirits seems to have been in close - 4* (81) 82 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. contact with Jacob for some time at night. Gen. xxxii. 24: “There wrestled with him a man until the breaking of the day. . . . . And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh.” We are often asked, why do these materializations require darkness P. We might answer that recent discoveries by Pro- fessor Crookes show that light is a motor power, and prevents that chemical action necessary for these manifestations. We would be gratified if some of our inquisitors would inform us why most of the spirit manifestations in the Bible occurred at night. It is a singular fact that there is scarcely a phase of modern Spiritualism, from the sublime to the ridiculous, that its counterpart can not be found in the Bible. The Father of his Country on some occasions has not only materialized his person so as to be recognized by all present, but his uniform, as he wore it when struggling for the inde- pendence of his country. This he did within a few feet of where we now write. On some occasions, when the conditions were favorable, he materialized his sword. So Joshua saw “a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand; and Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries P” This man was doubtless the one who was promised to be sent before Israel, to bring them into the place prepared for then. “Beware of him and obey his voice, provoke him not, for mine angel shall go before thee.” A materialized “man” appeared to Manoah’s wife several times before he saw him. When Manoah first saw him he asked him, “Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman P And he said, I am.” After he had accomplished his mission he “ascended in the flame of the altar,” “and appeared no more to Manoah and his wife.” In Ist Kings xix. it is recorded that an angel cooked a meal for Elijah. “And he arose and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights.” One of the most interesting spirit manifestations is recorded by three of the Evangelists. I copy Luke's account of it as BIBLE PROOF. 83 given in chapter 28: “And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter, John, and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, appeared in glory and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they were awoke, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.” This was indeed a glorious manifestation of spirit presence. The Jewish lawgiver was not permitted to go over into Canaan because of one offense in the wilderness. The old prophet had, according to the history, ascended in a chariot of fire far away, but they meet with Jesus and His three favorite disciples upon “a high mountain” where they had gone for the purpose of prayer. There are many Spiritualists now who have witnessed simi- lar manifestations. These are occurring all around the world, and those who have had these heavenly visitors, as some of us have, are better than ever before prepared to appreciate these glorious privileges. Such manifestations are becoming more frequent, and I believe the time is not far distant when the veil between the two worlds will to a great extent be removed. This manifestation was typical of the glory of the new dispensation which is dawning upon the world. Give but the conditions necessary and we shall have them. Let the pure in heart ascend the mountain to pray, having their aspira- tions ascending up on high and the spirits of just men made perfect will be attracted to the holy assemblage, and heavenly communion and recognition will be the result of such meetings. Angels appeared to the women who came to embalm the body of Jesus. “As they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments, saying, ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead?' When they reported what 84 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. they had seen to the disciples their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” We see in the resurrection of Jesus and His showing Himself to Mary Magdalene : she supposing Hinn to be the gardener, did not recognize Him ; nor did the two of His disciples, as they talked together and did not know Him as they went that same day to a village called Emmaus. When the eleven gath- ered together Jesus himself stood in their midst, and said unto them, “Peace be unto you.” But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed they had seen a spirit, a type of the manifestations of the present time. The unbelief of all the disciples first, and of Thomas, who declared he would not believe unless he could see with his eyes and feel with his hands, a type of the mass of skeptics at the present time. Finally, after giving them the most satisfactory evidence of His identity, showing them that He could visit them when the doors were shut and vanish out of sight from the table when they recognized Him, “He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them, and while He blessed them. He was parted from them.” There are many who have witnessed similar scenes to this, of meeting and parting, and rejoice to know that the time has come, that Jesus said would come, that we should see the angels descending and ascending upon the Son of man. Luke says, “While they beheld Him, He was taken up, and clouds received Him out of their sight.” “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel.” We have thus seen that from the birth to the ascension of the Author of Christianity, spirit presence and spirit commun- ion with mortals form by far the most interesting portion of the history of the founder of the Christian religion. It is very evident that the Apostles and primitive Christians relied very much upon the tangible evidence afforded them to demonstrate the truth of Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus is the basis upon which the whole superstructure rests. BIBLE PROOF. 85 Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” Whatever is claimed for the resurrection body of Jesus, per- tains to the bpdies of His brethren. “We shall be like Him,” is the declaration of the highest authority. The two Marys were the first who saw Hin). “After that He appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the residue, neither believed they them. Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen. And He vanished out of their sight.” * On another occasion “Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I, myself. Handle me and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when He had thus spoken He showed them. His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat P And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. And He took it and did eat before them.” Some will doubtless think it awful to state that we have seen similar things occur at our own home. The hands and the bare feet have been seen and felt by us. Also the pulse, showing that the materialized body was for the time being per- fect; not as Jesus says, a spirit, for the natural eye can not see a spirit. We have seen them eat and drink as naturally as mortals, when there was no possibility of being deceived. John, who wrote some time after the others, says that Mary “saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She 36 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if Thou have borne Him hence, tell me where Thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto Him, Rabbi, which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” “The same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He showed unto them. His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.” The fact here stated, that the “doors were shut,” is obviously given to show that matter is no obstruction to materialization. Brick walls present no obstacle to spirits entering, and in a moment show themselves as perfect human beings. This we have seen often in our library. - There are many like Thomas, who wish to place their hands in the wounds of Jesus before they will believe ; yet he did not, when he saw them, desire any further evidence of the identity of his Master. He relied upon the most deceptive of the senses for his knowledge of the fact of its being really the risen Jesus. Not only the world, but the disciples, needed tangible . evidence of immortality. Jesus gave them that evidence in His own person. The early Christian writers relied on physical evidence for a confirmation of this glorious truth. Luke, writing to Theophilus, referring to the “former treat- ise,” alluding to the gospel he wrote, says: “To whom he showed himself by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and Speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts i. 3). Again, Acts x. 40, 41 : “Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto wit- nesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead.” BIBLE PROOF. 87 º How many “witnesses” were there of the resurrection of Jesus? And how long time was He seen of them P Forty days. We have thousands of living witnesses of the resurrec- tion from the dead, now, all over the world, not for a few weeks, but for years they have been seeing, handling, eating and driñk- ing with some of them, under circumstances which admit of no doubt of the individuality of those who come to give us proof of such a nature as Thomas required to make him believe. That age needed that kind of evidence of the truth of immor- tality. The Sadducees believed in neither spirit nor resurrec- tion or any existence after death. This age needs the same testimony. Materialism has well-nigh spread over the intelli- gent portions of Europe. The intellect of our country is rapidly drifting in that direction, and if Spiritualism does not stop this tide of skepticism in regard to a future mode of existence we shall soon be overwhelmed with its influence. We hope and believe that materialism will be exterminated; but by what instrumentality is this to be effected P. We can not tell; but our conviction is, that this materialization phase of Spiritualism will be the instrument by which this glorious work will be ac- complished. - Dr. J. M. Peebles and myself have had some very interest- ing séances mornings, he seeing his relatives and I seeing mine, and holding sweet converse with them. We witnessed one manifestation together (I had seen it several times), an account of which was published in the R. P. Journal, We make the following extracts from it : MRS. T. W. MILLER. “It seems a marked purpose of the spirit-world just now to present before us the materialized forms of the departed. But the term ‘spirit materialization’ is too vague, too inexact, to apply to this form of manifestation. Spirits do not materialize. Essential spirits can no more become matter than cause can become effect. Unseen intelligences, versed in spirit chemis- 88 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. try, have the power to collect and use the aura of mediums; the emanations of individuals, and the elements of the atmos- phere, manipulating and molding the same into shapes, forms, and garments of immortals, in which spirits appear. As it is the glove of the gloved hand that we see, so it is the constructed clothing of the spirit that our eyes behold. And then again, there is no doubt but that it is ‘the double’ of the mediunk that is often seen. That the spirits of certain mediums occa- sionally leave their bodies for a time, I have the fullest proof. “Mrs. Miller is an excellent medium for slate-writing and the phenomena of materialization. These phenomena, so common now, require no minute description. I will, however, mention this test condition that I applied to Mrs. Miller in the presence of Mr. Miller and Dr. Watson. The medium had taken her seat in the cabinet and become entranced. Her hands, her limbs were rigid and cold. While she was in this state I took from my pocket a small thread-like string, and putting it around her neck, tied it in hard knots behind, and then tied the same to the back of the chair. The curtain of the cabinet was then dropped; and yet, before I had got off from the platform a spirit form, clothed in white, stepped out in full sight. Dr. Watson saw it—we all saw it ! “SPIRITS BY STARLIGHT. “Conversing about. Mrs. Miller's mediumship with Dr. Wat- son, he assured me that.neither a house nor a cabinet were ab- solutely necessary to see the manifestations attending this Mem- phian medium : “‘What do you mean, Doctor P’ “‘I mean that these spirits may be seen out in the fields by moonlight or starlight.' e “‘Have you witnessed anything of the kind?' “‘I have, several times.’ “‘Can such a privilege be granted me?’ BIBLE PRoof. 89 “‘Most certainly; if the medium's delicate health will per- mit of such a nightly excursion during this damp weather.’ “The evening and the hour were agreed upon. At the ap- pointed time we were treading the streets leading toward the outskirts of the city. Now we pass a gate ; climb a fence ; travel a few yards, and are in an open lot or common. There are five of us present, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Dr. Watson, Mr. Stillman, and myself. We halt; keep silent Mrs. Miller is partially influenced. Now she is clairaudient. The spirits wish us to step aside two or three rods and remain quiet. We obey. It is clear, and the stars are shining bright. We can see Mrs. Miller distinctly, hear her talking with invisible intelli- gences. She kneels and prays. Rising we see by her side a spirit form clad in white. And now there is another; and ere long, still another appears, a soldier, seemingly dressed in a dark grayish suit. But the medium is exhausted and falls to the ground. We lift her up. In this half rigid trance state she can not stand. Her husband rubs her hands, her arms, and pathetizes the brain till consciousness returning, we return by the same winding way, not doubting that our forefathers saw as they said, warning angels by the wayside and ghostly figures in grave-yards. “FIRE FROM HEAVEN. “Spirit lights or fiery lights have been given at séances; and have been seen many yards by clairvoyants. Such phenom- ena are as ancient as the records of the Old and New Testa- ment. In connection with the “burning bush’ that remained unscorched, Moses saw a “flame of fire. The patriarch Abraham saw a ‘smoking furnace and a lamp of fire.’ A ‘pillar of fire' guided the Israelites out of Egypt; and * cloven tongues like as of fire' sat upon the Apostles. So while Dr. Watson, myself, and others were out in the open field on that auspicious evening in Memphis with Mrs. Miller, awaiting the re-appearance of more spirits, there appeared 90 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. suddenly a flash, or flame of fire above the medium's head, falling to the earth, kindled into a blaze the twigs, grass, and leaves, partially fading, then brightening up, and lasting, I should judge, some two or three minutes. And so modern spirit manifestations continue to parallel the ancient.” It was our intention to give only those manifestations we had seen under strict test conditions with a number of mediums. I can not, however, resist the temptation in closing this phase to make some extracts from Rev. Thos. Colley's—A. M., late of the Royal Navy—account, which he with others witnessed and published in London, England. At a public reception given us in that city in 1873, we made the acquaintance of this medium, the Rev. Dr. Monck, who made an address on that occasion. The preachers are among the most incredulous of any class I have met with. In these wonderful manifestations given be- low, the narrator, the medium, and the spirit, Rev. Sam’l Wheeler, are all ministers. They represent a clerical trio in the regular succession, belonging to a Church of the greatest . Christian nation, upon whose dominion the sun never sets. I give them for the special “benefit of the clergy” that they “may take due notice thereof and govern themselves accord- ingly.” I have only space for a few extracts, published by J. Burns, Iondon. “The next sitting for materialization was that of Monday, Oc- tober 8th, and was, like the one above described, hastily im- provised and accidental, though I believe spiritually appointed. My report of it appeared in the Medium of October 12th, and is as follows : * “‘Bewildering phenomena; yes, says the self-satisfied cynic, bewildering to those whose wild fancies suggest a wilderness where common-sense has never farmed the mental waste, where brain capacity is small, and proper discipline, thoughtful application, diligent study, and the observant powers never had scope to bring to cultivation the rational faculty—bewildering not, else. BIBLE PROOF. 91 “‘Well, I have written some, and seen much, and pondered more, and yet I am puzzled still. A fool quickly settles a mat- ter, but a matter last night settled me, unless a fool in the con- viction that as things go, the time is not far off when the invisi- ble will be very clearly seen, and the intangible very sensibly felt ; when matter will rarefy to spirit, and spirit solidify to mat- ter, and a strange metempsychosis not unfrequently take place, wherein one of earth, properly qualified, may go on a spiritual excursion into the realm of mind, and one of spirit, rightly con- ditioned, be able to come on a visit to us for a few days into this world of matter; the one using the life-atoms and bodily constituents of the other adapted to his temporary need, while he from us, taking on the nature of spirit, shall occupy the place in the unseen of our mysterious guest, and as a locume tenens tentatively do his duty in the higher life, the thread of his life here, and its obligations and divine purposes, being taken up and observed and outwrought for the time by the angel incumbent with whom he has made spiritual exchange.” “Now, if this is not the wildest stuff ever written out of Bedlam, it is a sane prophecy of future possibilities; and last night's experience warrants me in thinking it rather of the lat- ter. Dr. Monck was again medium. Four of us constituted the circle, all in perfect rapport with our instrument, having that confidence in him which is of knowledge, which yet, for the sake of others, and the better to observe what transpired, did not prevent us from taking every care in the application of tests that should answer for the genuineness of the manifesta- tions and satisfy the most exacting. “The sitting was wholly for materialization, and the first form that appeared was that of a child, as it were, as we on this side of eternity would say, about six or seven years of age. This figure in view of all grew out of the medium's left side as he stood entranced before us. It had all the actions and ways of human childhood ; clapped its little hands, pursed its mouth to kisses, and spoke in pretty accents, Dr. Monck, under control, 92 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. speaking to it and instructing it like an elder brother. Then after a few minutes' further stay, sliding back into the medium, it gradually disappeared. “The next form was none other than Dr. Monck's old earth friend, fellow student, brother minister, and chief spirit-control, ‘Samuel Wheeler.' When he in like manner issuing forth first stepped from the medium into separate being, Dr. Monck was unconscious, under tontrol of ‘Lily,’ and her voice through him contrasted very markedly with the voice of the materialized form—it, to the very syllable, being the voice of ‘Samuel' as when speaking through the medium. But this did not satisfy our spirit friend, for the marvel of the night's ef. fort had yet to culminate. Conditions being so good, ‘Samuel' thought he might dematerialize and awake Dr. Monck, and then be able to rematerialize with the medium in his normal state, fully alive to all that transpired, and conscious of the astounding fact we were to witness; and successful, beyond all conception of the mystery, was this most unique experiment ; for after the first alarm of Dr. Monck had passed away, and after the pain and nervous snatchings he felt in the process of his friend's evolution from himself had subsided, medium and spirit-form conversed naturally together, and the astonishment and glee of the former were only equaled by our profound sense of inability adequately to grasp at first the vast significance of this amazing demonstration of occult power. Equally with the child-form did “Samuel Wheeler' show all the attributes of humanity, and, in his case, reason and ripe manhood, as in hers girlishness and simplicity. He was not unlike the medium in stature, form, and bearing; and one of our company having in- timately known “Samuel' in the earth-life. (being frequently one of his congregation when our spirit friend was, as our medium also was, a Baptist minister), unhesitatingly declared that this ‘Samuel Wheeler’ was that Samuel Wheeler, and none other. “So for some time the spirit, temporarily clothed with earthly BIBLE PROOF. sº 93 elements, molecular agglutinations, and atomic gatherings, that thronging in from spirit-attraction and life-magnetism, clinging round the soul—Deity's central fact—form the visible man, the spirit thus endued, compacted, and embodied, stayed and talked with us, walked about with his old friend Dr. Monck, and greeted his other friend joyfully, and did many other things to show how perfectly he was a man, and then at last, psychologi- cal laws (about which we are altogether in the dark) compelling, reluctantly retired, and drifting back into the medium, threw him into trance and resumed control. “And now a new sensation was in store for us. A spirit-form, eight inches taller than Dr. Monck, grew from him by degrees, and building itself up into giant proportions with muscular limbs developed like statuary of bronze, and of the color, there came into disconnected, independent, vigorous life, apart from the medium, an ancient Egyptian. From its general aspect, dress, and manner, I addressed it as such at once without a moment's doubt or hesitation. For Ancient Egypt has been a favorite study with me, and in modern Egyptians I have, when in the East, endeavored to trace the ancient masters of Israel and the sciences, and have dreamed amid the ruins of the Tem- ple of Isis, and sketched the blue tuniced and turbaned descend- ant of the Pharaohs, and have pleasant recollections of an Egyp- tian Fellah, Zozab, who used to accompany me through the ba- zaars, and pioneer me through the intricacies of Suez; and if ever Bulwer's Arbaces the Egyptian, in the ‘Ilast Days of Pompeii,' had existence other than in the mind of the author, it was here embodied in the materialized form I handled and closely scrutinized last night. “The vitality and power of this spirit were remarkable ; it walked with manly step and dignified carriage round and about the room, before and behind us, without fear or hesitation ; appeared curious about, and leisurely inspected, the furniture and ornaments of the room ; took up a chair and placed it on the table; brought us books and other things, and then, tak- 94 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. ing the chair from the table, placed it close to mine and sat down at my side. Meanwhile I closely introspected it, and felt its anatomy, the livedium standing at my left side while ‘Ma- hedi' (the Egyptian) was seated at my right. I now got the spirit to measure hands, placing its palm on mine. The hand (stone cold, while the medium's was burning hot,) was small, like all Easterns, and the wrist was also small, but the arm was massive, muscular, bronzed, and hairy. Its eyes were black and piercing, but not unkindly; its hair lank and jet, and mustaches and beard long and drooping ; its features full of life and expression, yet Sphynx-like. Its head-dress was very peculiar, a sort of metal skull-cap with an emblem in front, overhanging the brow, which trembled and quivered and glis- tened. I was suffered to feel it, but as I did so it seened to melt away like a snow-flake under my touch, to grow solid again the moment after. “Altogether our mysterious visitant was a weird and everlast- ing puzzle. But for the sake of an inner circle studying with me the correspondence and causative philosophy of these mys- teries, I am instructed to say that ‘The Mahedi' is the ‘Com- ing Phase,' and that what I have thus been the first to witness has yet to develop to something out of all proportion to any- thing at present experienced or even dreamt of. “But other matters of moment transpired too recondite to be lucidly recorded, and at last our new acquisition from the ‘ Grand Man' through mortal man retired, and bowed a silent adieu, and as I had done with other spirit-forms in their exeunt and exit, I, at the distance of a few inches only, watched ‘The Mahedi's' absorption into the body of the medium, and his gradual disappearance, till he was merged viewless into the boundless hereafter through this mortal gate of access to the mysteries of the other life. “But Dr. Kennedy was now invited to draw equally near and realize more closely with me the marvel of the separate identity of the spirit-form from the medium, and as we stood, looking BIBLE PROOF. 95 O with all our soul upon the mighty fact of spirit birth from mor- tal mam, Dr. Monck, still entranced, placed the lovely visitant from the inner world between us, and, affording it the support each of an arm, we advanced with our sweet spirit-companion some steps further into the room. Meanwhile, holding the hand of the spirit-arm that rested on mine, I felt the wrist, palm, fingers, and finger-nails ; it was in every respect a living hand, answering to my touch, yielding to pressure, having natural weight and substance, and all things pertaining to humanity, but it was damp and stone cold ; and the thought passed through my mind, how, like steam, first invisible, congealed, is then seen as cloudy vapor, which, precipitated, may finally take solid form in ice, this figure at my side had, by a somewhat analogous pro- cess, been rendered visible and tangible from the vital force, viewless and imponderable, of the medium, being, under the chemistry, not yet understood of the higher life, congealed into the nebulous condition instanced of the form's first appear- ance, further to solidify into the lovely creature we supported and wistfully beheld. “But, not to theorize, I now come to the climax of the night's most wonderful phenomena. “When the form at last retired, I was, as an extreme favor which might cause the medium great prostration, permitted to accompany it, and draw near with it slowly and cautiously, un- til I came again close up to Dr. Monck, as he, still entranced, stood forth full in view of all, waiting to receive back unto him- self the marvelous aeon, phantasm, or emanation that we must call angel or spirit. As it neared him the gossamer filament again came into view, its attenuated and vanishing point being, as before, toward the heart. By means of this subtle cord, I noticed how the psychic figure seemed to be sucked back into the body of the medium. For like a water-spout at sea—fun- nel-shaped—or sand column, such as I have seen in Egypt, horizontal instead of vertical, the superior vital power of Dr. Monck seemed to absorb and draw in the spirit form, but so 96 º: THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. gradually that I was enabled closely to watch the process; for, leaning against and holding the medium, with my left arm at his back, and my left ear and cheek to his breast, his heart beating in a most violent and alarming way, I saw him receive back the lovely birth of the invisible spheres into his very per- son, and, as I gazed for the last time on the sweet face of the disintegrating spirit, within three or four inches of the features, I marked its fair aspect, eyes, hair, and delicate complexion, and kissed the dainty hand, as, in process of absorption, it dissolved, and saw the angel face disappear and fade, as it was drawn, positively, into the bosom of the medium. Gazing thus closely, with awe and breathless interest, did I, therefore, watch the departure of our angel-friend, and through the liv- ing gate and avenue of the medium's very self, did I, with feelings indescribable, mark the steps of her progress to regain, through the living organism and body of Dr. Monck, her home in the viewless spheres.” * Having a great desire: to make the experiment of spirit pict- ures, we consulted our spirit-wife in regard to it. She said: “I will go with you to Mr. Hartman's, and will stand at your back, so the picture will be directly in a line with yours.” Addressing her sister-in-law (the medium), she said: “You must go with him, so we can direct any change in position that may seem best for the picture to be plain. We are anxious to have it so all will recognize it. Be sure to go to-morrow and sit for the picture.” . Eleven o'clock found us at Mr. Hartman's gallery. He had just moved and was not fixed up—had not tried to take a pict- ure. Dr. Child, of Philadelphia, and Dr. T. B. Taylor, were present, and we determined to have strict test conditions. The plate was examined before being placed in the instru- ment. Dr. Child and ourself went with the artist until it was taken out. Three times there was nothing visible on it but ourself. The fourth sitting a lady is by our side, about as plain as our own likeness. Our spirit-wife wrote: “Your BIBLE PROOF. - 97 mother stood in front, and her picture is the only one that is visible on the plate.” There were other shadowy forms on the plate, but only one having distinct features. (This picture we have had electrotyped, and it appears on this page). We were then directed to sit again, having our sister-in-law :S * * * & º - :s ** . * - --> N * * * º * NN § JAY J. HARTMAN, SPIRIT ARTIST. by our side. A good picture was then taken of us, and two children very plain above her head. Mollie wrote: “These are our two children, Sammy and Willie, who died at Green- 5 98 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. wood. I don't want a picture unless it is so plain that my friends will recognize me.” This picture was made December 25, 1875, in Cincinnati, by Jay J. Hartman, under the most rigid test conditions, in a gallery he had never visited before, with camera, glass, and TEST SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPH. chemicals of a skeptical photographer, all of the manipula- tions of the plate being done by a skeptical photographer, Mr. Hartman simply standing by the side of the camera with his BIBLE PRoof. & 99 hand resting thereon, never entering the dark room, nor at any time seeing or handling the plate, and all the time closely watched by sixteen respectable, intelligent gentlemen. “CINCINNAT1, December 25, 1875. “We, the undersigned, having taken part in the public in- vestigation of spirit photographing, given by Mr. Jay J. Hart- man, hereby certify that we have closely examined and watched the manipulations of our own marked plates, through all the various workings in and out of the dark room, and have been unable to discover any sign of fraud or trickery on the part of Mr. Jay J. Hartman. “We further certify that during the last sitting, when this re- sult was obtained, Mr. Jay J. Hartman did not handle the plate or enter the dark room at any time.” : tº : : º * : : 3. : • CHAPTER VIII. CHRISTIANITY-SPIRITUALISM-SCIENCE. Four thousand years, according to the Mosaic chronology, had been numbered with the dark ages of the world, when the Herald of the Nazarene came baptizing the people of Judea. There was universal expectation that some extraordinary per- sonage was to make his appearance about that time in the world. The Jews expected a temporal reign of their Messiah and deliverance from the Roman Government. This mighty conqueror had extended her dominion over the civilized world, and the Augustan age of peace was commencing its universal reign. The imposing forms and ceremonies of the temple service continued, but the house of prayer had become a den of thieves. The teachings of Moses were silent as to im- mortality. The pains and penalties which attached to a vio- lation of their laws had no reference to a future state what- ever. Nor was any inducement held out to encourage a life of virtue by hope of reward beyond the present state of being. The Hebrew Church was wholly materialistic in its theology. Life and immortality had never been brought to light even among the intellectual nations of Greece and Rome. Such was the condition of the world when the Founder of the Christian religion, spoken of by the latest of the Jewish prophets as “the Sun of Righteousness,” arose from the humble walks of life and “spake as never man spake" in regard to things pertaining to man's eternal destiny. As the image of the nat- ural sun paints itself upon the mists before his rising, so the ſº • * : º & tº : : * : : (IOO) CHRISTIANITY-SPIRITUALISM-SCIENCE. IOI Baptist gave some foreshadowing of Him whose shoes he was not worthy to unloose. What this forerunner was to Christian- ity, the Swedish seer has been to this, the most remarkable movement of modern times. As “coming events cast their shadows before them,” so this herald, though unappreciated in his day, was preparing the world for the reception of the glorious truths revealed through the instrumentality of modern Spiritualism. Foreboding spirits precede great events. The future is, to a great extent, foreshadowed by the present. This has been true in all ages; it is especially so in the present. Any one who will survey the present various phases of society, and con- sider the aspects presented and the modes of thought which prevail, will discover the course we are taking. The “signs of the times” are numerous and very clear to the observing mind. Prominent among the phenomena that stand out in bold relief, indicating very clearly what is to spring out of it in the future, is this movement. This is very clearly one of the “signs of the times.” It has made its appearance under pe- culiar circumstances, and at a period when there was perhaps a greater need of it than at any other time in the world's history. Its influence upon thinking minds has already been felt to an extent without a parallel in the history of our race. When it shall have accomplished its mission, revolutions in science, in theology, and in government will be effected, which, if an- nounced at present, would startle even advanced thinkers upon this subject. I. It demands investigation as a science. In its phenomena it is a science of precisely the same char- acter as those upon which other sciences are based, and it demands to be investigated in the same way. Upon this fact we take our stand, and maintain that in the conclusion we have arrived at we are following out the strict Baconian principle of induction. IQ2 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Many theories have been invented to account for the spirit- ual facts, but the objection to them all is, that even if true, they are totally incompetent to account for all the phenomena. The spiritual hypothesis alone will cover all the ground occu- pied by all the facts, and as that is the case, we are following the strictest principles of scientific reasoning in adopting it. The Copernican system of astronomy is only known to be true upon this principle, and the same will apply to every recognized law of nature. We maintain, theréfore, that we are acting in accordance with the spirit of scientific investigation in coming to the conclusion that the theory of Spiritualism is true. We have, therefore, no more right to set it aside in consequence of difficulties, real or imaginary, that may happen to accompany it, than we have to relinquish any other well-recognized law of nature, either in chemistry, geology, or any other science, be- cause we may not be able fully to comprehend all that it in- volves. The real business of science should be to investigate all facts, no matter what their character, so as to arrive at a sound conclusion in regard to them. II. It demands investigation on the ground of its philosophic pretensions. If Spiritualism be true, it propounds a new and most impor- tant system of philosophy. This should be sufficient to entitle it to a critical investigation. Philosophy has almost become defunct in modern days. Science has usurped its place un- justly, because the mission of each is different, and neither can legitimately perform the functions of the other. Some there are who endeavor to show that in modern times philosophy is impossible; that all it has done in the past has been to lead us to positive science. This is in harmony with the materialism of the age. In the ages of the past, when metaphysics was made the main subject of study, man was said to be the meas- ure of all things, and his nature was viewed from the internal, and not from the external stand-point. This order has been re- CHRISTIANITY-SPIRITUALISM-SCIENCE. Io.3 versed in modern days. Now he is made a part of the great scheme of material nature—one of the cogs in her mighty wheel, with no more power to alter the arrangements sur. rounding him than any other machinery. Mind is said to be the function of the brain, and volition, instead of being an orig- inator of force, is held to be simply one of its forms, driven into action by external circumstances, in the same way as electricity is evolved from a battery. Science has degraded man to a mere automaton, which has to be put in motion by some power ex- terior to itself. s There are some errors which this materialistic age has taught, which must be corrected ; and we believe that the de- velopments of spiritualistic teaching will do more than anything else toward giving us correct views of ourselves—of our physical, mental, and spiritual natures. Mind is the originator, as well as the director of force. In fact, all force must have its origin in mind, and but for mind, force would be non-existent. The inference from cardinal principles is obvious. All nature is governed by a Supreme Mind, whose will is expressed in phys- ical law. Whether we view it in the laws which govern in our planetary system, more than eighty millions of which ex- ist in the physical universe, or in the smallest particles of which any of these worlds are composed that the microscope reveals to our sight, the same indications of the Infinite Mind are mani- fested. s Spiritualism tells you that the material part of man is not the man, no more than the coat you wear is yourself. It is only the covering in which he appears in this transitory state of his mortal existence. Therefore the real basis of all sound philos- ophy is the spirit—the “inner man.” The external man does not produce the internal, but, on the contrary, the internal molds and governs the external. That extraordinary man. to whom we have referred taught most plainly what modern Spir– itualism has demonstrated to be true, that the real man is the spiritual being, not the material. His philosophy is being IO4 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. proved to be true every day by spirit manifestations, and will ultimately drive materialistic theories into oblivion. III. It lifts the zeil between the natural and the spiritual zoorld, and reveals much in regard to man's future in the other life. Man groped in utter ignorance for thousands of years in re- gard to any life beyond the present. Not only the ignorant pagan, but the most enlightened nations of the world knew ab- solutely nothing respecting the most important subject that ever engaged the attention of man. Even in this, the latter part of the nineteenth century, a large proportion of the intel- lectual world deny any existence for man beyond the present. With a cold, blank, cheerless atheism on the one hand, and the cruel dogmas of the Church on the other, it is most assuredly something to obtain a clear insight into the spirit-world. Mod- ern Spiritualism, like Christianity, came into the world when it was most of all needed to enlighten the world upon this most important subject; the Church teaching an everlasting lake of fire and brimstone to all who did not accept certain dogmas, and a grim materialism declaring that at death consciousness would be extinct, and that annihilation was to be the fate of all. Between these two horrible destinies we scarcely knew which was the worst. Both were bad almost beyond concep- tion. The Church attacked atheism, because it attempted to destroy man's brightest hopes and crush out every noble aspi- ration of his soul. Atheism attacked the Church, because she laid heavy burdens on men's shoulders too grievous to be borne —ruled her subjects with a rod of iron—exercised over all be- longing to her fold a despotic tyranny, and hurled her cruel and vindictive anathemas at all outside her pale, threatening them with torments forever. An internecine war had been raging between the contending parties when Spiritualism stepped into the breach between them, crying, “Stay your hand and stop this warfare Come and let us reason together. Atheism, you CHRISTIANITY—SPIRITUALISM-SCIENCE. Io 5 are right in endeavoring to bring to an end this undue power of ecclesiastical tyranny. And you, the Church, are right in using your utmost power to destroy the blank and cheerless prospect of annihilation.” In this matter Spiritualism has done good service to mankind, though its good results are not so manifest now as they will be when the two belligerent parties can look at these questions from a spiritualistic stand-point. The way is now opened to the spirit-world to men's eyes that had been so long closed by priestly dogmas on the one hand and dark skepticism on the other. A brilliant flood of light followed in her train, and the nations are being illuminated by its beams. Spiritualism has come to bring back to man those grand and glorious truths that have been so long lost sight of, and to re- store those primitive doctrines taught by divinity eighteen hun- dred years ago. The great question of more importance than any other of which we can conceive is, What is the great object of my creation, whither am I tending, and where is to be my eternal home P. We maintain that these questions are more satisfacto- rily answered by Spiritualism than by any other system the world has ever known. It is furnishing a solution to the prob- lem which has troubled mankind more than any other. It says to the desponding mourner over the loved and lost, “Come hither, hear, see, feel, and Amozo, that your departed friends still live, and because they live, you shall live ; receive the assurance that you shall live also.” The riddle of the uni- verse is read—the mystery of ages revealed. The question which has been asked thousands of times, propounded by Job, “If a man die, shall he live again P” has been answered in the affirmative. Correcting the translation, and reading as it is, “If a man die, shall he live on P” is true; he lives on forever. “There is no death ;” but what is so called is only a birth to a higher life, leaving behind him all that he received from earth, and carrying with him all the development he has made in his intellectual and moral nature. What Socrates hoped for, Jesus 3% ro5 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. taught, and Paul believed, and we most assuredly know. We do not wish to convey the idea that immortality was not known until the advent of modern Spiritualism, far from it ; but we do say there are classes of mind, and that number has been in- creasing with great rapidity among the educated both in Europe and America, that have not been reached by the testimony which they have had of immortality. They have demanded something more tangible than they have ever found to demon- strate the fact of any existence after the present. This age is a matter-of-fact age. Man has asserted, and will forever main- tain, his right to think for himself. The day of blind adher. ence to human authority has gone; the age of faith in other men's testimony is rapidly passing away, and demonstrative Ánowledge is what is demanded by the age. It demands the evidence of sense, and declares it will not be satisfied with any other. These are the strongest and most conclusive, the most overwhelming demands that can be made, and yet it is the very kind that Spiritualism proposes to meet. All this is now easily furnished by spirit manifestations. Let the skeptic ask for whatever evidence he may, it can be forthcoming. It can, therefore, confront materialistic infidelity as nothing else can, attacking it upon its own ground, and strangling it with its own weapons of warfare. IV. Its social doctrines. If the teachings of Spiritualism were to be practiced, its in- fluence on society would be very salutary. It is calculated to effect great changes for the better among mankind. It enun- ciates the great and glorious principle taught by Jesus in His first sermon on the mount, when He inaugurated the principles of His divine system known as Christianity—but, alas ! has been lost sight of by many who profess to be His followers—that all men are brethren, and should act toward each other as such, There is a bond arising out of our common humanity and im- mortality of man, that should bind all humankind in one close CHRISTIANITy—SPIRITUALISM-SCIENCE. Io? union that should destroy discord and prevent war. No matter what zone may have given him birth, or what sun colored his skin, he has claims upon his brother man which can not be ig- nored with impunity. These are the sacred principles taught by the Nazarene and by good spirits. The angels in the heavens were once human beings, and they are our brethren still, loving us, “going with us, caring for us, as life's journey we pursue.” They watch over us, and take an interest in all we do to benefit our fellow-creatures. They come on errands of mercy from the bright summer land, and bring to us mes- Sages of peace, goodness, and truth. Love to God and man, the divinest principle in God's uni- verse, is the leading characteristic of the highest forms of spirit teaching. It is the fulfilling of the whole law, as taught by Christ when establishing His system of ethics. Sectarianism, that bane of the churches, should find no place in the spirit circle. Being human, we are necessarily in perfect, and liable to err ; and from this fact we should learn to look leniently on the errors of others. None of us can be infallible ; no, not even His Holiness of the Vatican, despite his pretensions and dogmatism. This commodity should have no place in our teachings. Spiritualism informs us that errors in judgment pertain to those who have passed to the other side of the great river, and that consequently we must submit all we get from them to our own judgment, and practice the utmost toleration toward those who may differ with us. Ilet Rome and the rest of the old churches dogmatize, and hurl their anathemas about us as they will, but let us employ none of it ourselves. “Exalt the right, though every ism fall.” PROGRESSION is enunciated more clearly through Spiritualism than in anything else. Belief in eternal progress is one of its most distinguishing features. There is no standstill taught by good spirits. Growth in knowledge, wisdom, love, advance- ment, on the high-road of God's truth, and the elevation of soul approximating the divine, are the principles taught by it, Io8 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. and to which the Spiritualist clings. Its philosophy never rests. Its law is progress. The point which was invisible yesterday, is its goal to-day, and will be its starting-point to- morrow. Whatever point may be gained in earth-life, will be the starting-point of spirit-life. In the future world progress goes on forever, and happy are they who have made a good commencement here. CHAPTER IX. PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT CONTROL ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. IT is a very important question in the progress of our in- vestigation of this interesting subject, how are the phenomena produced P A medium is said to be a person whose body gives off a peculiar kind of magnetic aura—an invisible fluid—sup- posed to be the connecting link between mind and matter, and through the agency of which the human spirit is supposed, while in the flesh, to control the physical body. We are told that all persons give off this magnetic or mesmeric aura, which is visible to clairvoyants, but not to the ordinary sight of mor- tals; that these emanations surround and form a “sphere" around the body of every human being, and that this sphere in- fluences our actions and feelings more than we are aware. This mesmeric atmosphere which surrounds all persons, more or less, is, so to speak, semi-material, essentially personal, and varying therefore in quality and quantity, according to in- dividual circumstances. In and through this atmosphere, which, though passing through the “natural body,” is yet per- fectly independent of it, and which will be retained when it is cast aside, the spirits of our departed friends are supposed to communicate with us, it being the only com- mon ground between us and them. The source of this subtle fluid is most probably the blood, seeing that the nerve fluid varies in different individuals, and with the same person at different times, and that the blood is the life, and the great (IO9) I IO THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. nutriment stream of physical existence, it is most likely dis- tilled from it. It is well known that many mesmerists can control some of their subjects physically and mentally, to an extraordinary ex- tent, and that, too, without coming in actual fleshly contact with them ; that this is effected through the nerve aura of the operator, acting on the nervous system of the subject. Now, if he can do this, it requires no great effort of the imagination to fancy that a disembodied spirit, through the agency of the nerve aura, may be able to control persons turned mediums, so that they shall act in.accordance with the desire of the spiritual mesmerist. The spirit, in fact, would seem to entrance the medium partially or entirely by means of this same fluid, and then proceed as in the mundane sphere to use the organism of the subject as a mechanical contrivance for articulate speech or physical manifestation of any kind desired. This we had demonstrated in my library recently by Bro. J. E. Merriman, who had been a resident of Memphis for about forty years. He had been a member of an orthodox Church for many years, and always occupied a high position in every respect in this community. He passed away a few months SII) Ce. He was a very decided Spiritualist. He had been an officer in our spiritual organization from its commencement. Some- times lectured for us, and was one of our best speakers in our conferences. He controlled Mrs. Hawks for some time, giving us tests of his identity, etc. He gave us the philosophy of the control he had over the medium. His power had greatly increased since he passed over. He said in the form, Mrs. Hawks was more positive, and could control him, but that now, with the permission and assistance of her band, he could con- trol her with ease. His spirit did not enter into her body, but he moved upon the aura which surrounded her, and thus con- trolled her tongue to utter his own language, and that she could not prevent it. It was intensely interesting for us thus PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT CONTROL. I I I to meet, where we had so often met and listened to others who controlled this and other mediums, to have one of our own party, of our own circle, to come and give us words of cheer, and also the philosophy of his control of her to whom he had listened so often in our “Harmonial Hall” when controlled by some of the finest intelligences in the other life. Spirit acts upon matter, controls it, imparts the life it pos- sesses, gives it will, organization, being. In a word, it is the life of matter. The Divine mind, through a succession of laws and occult forces, controls the vast forces of matter, and makes it subservient to those laws, and thus works out the re- sult from atom to world, from world to sun, from sun to sys- tem; and finally through the vast constellations of being comes immortality, all performing their work in response to His life. Such is the popular theory. Surely some of the laws whereby He does this may be known to the human under- standing. One of these laws has already been revealed in the form of gravitation. Motion is the sublime principle of law; the result of this physical fact being apparent in the starry firma- ment, and the outer world. Without motion there could be no life. And without life, as the result of motion, there can be no organized forms of being that exist. The human mind is finite. God is infinite. Yet the human mind is large enough to possess a resemblance to the infinite Spirit, and the same laws whereby the infinite mind acts upon universal mat- ter, enable the finite mind to act upon finite matter. Your spirits control your bodies. . The laws whereby your spirits are to act are subtle and minute. The sphit you can not see. It may not be analyzed upon these subtle forces. Your brain is controlled by your spirit. Disembodied spirits, also, are able to act, stimulating those molecules of nervous fluid that pass from the brain to every minute portion of the human body, thus causing in pressions of the mind or physical vibra- tions of the body, conveying intelligence that does not come II 2 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. from your own mind, and manifesting their presence and power. - \ This is why you should be perfectly passive in a spiritual séance. There can be no passivity of mind in a state of excite- ment. Could you see the spiritual aura, as it emanates from your minds, you would see these little whirlwinds all over the atmosphere, and spirits find it very difficult to approach under such circumstances. Be harmonious—be passive, therefore— to enable them to come, for they can not unless you, as the disciples were, “with one accord,” on the day of Pentecost, when the most wonderful spirit manifestations were witnessed that we have ever seen recorded in history. Magnetism, Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, and even Psychology belong to what is known as the realm of natural sciences. It is also known that these sciences are yet in their infancy, and that the laws which govern them are of so occult a nature that as yet no complete system has been developed whereby cer- tain results may be legitimately and distinctly foretold by known causes. Everything that belongs to mind, in connec- tion with these sciences, is as mysterious as before they made their appearance upon the surface of human thought. Yet methods whereby one mind may govern and control another, may be just as clearly determined as the matter whereby an atom may communicate, or sympathize, with another, or the sun, the center of the solar system, govern and control the planets. But as life itself is not known and understood, how can we suppose that mind—that most subtle of existing substances— can be understeod P Animal magnetism (as it is called) is that peculiar force that emanates from one human body and has its influence upon another human body. All substances are surrounded by mag- netic properties peculiarly their own. Whoever possesses most of this aura, or magnetism, has the most power and influence, and when it is accompanied by corresponding mental vigor it PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT CONTROL. II 3 produces what is known as mesmerism. Mesmerism is the result of this same magnetism under the control of an indi- vidual of distinct and absolute will power. When a person wishes to mesmerize he avails himself of this magnetic aura that surrounds himself, and it is always the per- son possessing the strongest magnetic power that can, by his will power, control one of less positive will power. This mes- meric control is governed by absolute distinctive laws, under the influence of mind. When he gets his subject under his control, there is a chain of sympathy established by which the mesmerist can act upon the subject at a distance by the mere power of his will. Asychology, Biology, and other phases of mental control, ofttimes, without any physical symptoms of mesmeric sleep, but by the swaying of the mind, their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and beliefs represent those of some superior will power. The great secret of all mental control, in the world of great minds, is biology, or the mental vibration that corresponds to the physical vibration of magnetism. Mesmerism displaces the will, and directs the physical body through sleep, or through the suspension of its natural functions, withdrawing the mind by a process that may be similar to physical absorption. Clairvoyance is developed in mesmerism. Having placed his subject in mesmeric sleep, it is left for clairvoyance itself, independent of the mesmerist's power. Though clairvoyance was first discovered by the scientist through mesmerism, soon the clairvoyant traveled beyond the will power of the mes- merist, the body alone remaining subservient to his touch, while the mind investigated remote regions transcending the thought—far beyond the will or knowledge of the mesmerist. Science has thus, without designing or even knowing it, pre- pared,the way for the introduction of the Spiritual Philosophy. The better we understand the principles of the influence of mind upon mind, the more clearly we shall be able to compre- hend the philosophy of spirit control. The spirit mesmerizer II.4. THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. is able to control the negative, or medium, better than he could have done while encumbered with an earthly body. The more we know of ourselyes and the occult forces, of our mental machinery and the influence we can exert here upon others, the clearer will be our perceptions of the Psalmist when he says we are “wonderfully made.” Many eminent scientists and excellent members of ecclesi- astical bodies have, as individuals, taken hold of Spiritualism and hazarded name and place in its advocacy. It is obvious, to even these independent thinkers, that mental science and the influences of creedal faith have no connection with the modern movement. The scientist finds that a new set of laws, differing from those with which he has been acquainted, must be studied before he can make any headway in the investigation of the physical phenomena. Many of these come in direct contradiction to what has been considered the fixed and settled laws of matter. Hence the scientist, having no instruments with which he can determine these things, moves slowly in surrendering what to him have been considered immutable laws—material modus operandi, which have been regarded as settled beyond the possibility of question by scientific investi- gation. se The ecclesiastic throws himself back upon his dignity, backed by the supreme authority of pope, priest, and bishop, whom he has regarded as infallible. He can not surrender the creeds and dogmas of the Fathers in the Church. They have had the sanction of antiquity and the wisdom of the ages. These can not be ignored ; nor can the exorcism of creedal faiths, as conditions of salvation, be regarded in any other light than heretical. Hence the decided, and often violent antago- nism, from these two powerful agencies controlling public opinion. Having spent the larger portion of our long life in the prop- agation of these doctrines, I now most sincerely recommend all to investigate those principles which Spiritualism discloses. PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT CONTROL. I IS They will find them in the strictest harmony with good order, good morals, purity of heart and life, and the spirit of universal brotherhood. It is a profound study for the scientist as well as the teacher of religion. It is the religion of humanity as taught by the Founder of the Christian system. It embraces the principles upon which the Church of the future must be erected before it can ever receive the suffrage of mankind. When properly understood, it will ſorce conviction upon the scientist of its truth, and demonstrate to the world that it is a religion which does fully justify the ways of God to man. The following communication is from my brother, who was a physician, and died before the war. It was written through Mrs. Hauks, for the Inner-Life Department of the Magazine: “Good-morning, brother ; good-morning, friends. I am happy to meet you. I have lingered long, waiting outside the wicket for my turn to communicate. As nothing of a personal nature is permitted to be revealed through this organism, I must come as one addressing you from the spirit plane with the view of imparting truths that are for all mankind. Our per- sonal communications, my dear Samuel, will be through the other medium. The agent desires that I give you a few words on the subject of dreams, trances, and clairvoyance. You must know, my friends, that there is a connecting link running through all these named subjects; they all tend to lead into the same path, all speak of a dual life. Clearly they show the existence of the physical and the spiritual. The soul of man partakes of his material being ; compounded with the soul ele- ments are the material elements. The soul is the part upon which the spirit acts when exercising its desires through the material body. The mind that is brought into action through the brain receives the material as well as the spiritual impres- sions. Dreams that take the slumberer back over the events of the past day are but the reflex motion of the material upon the spiritual element of the soul, awaking through the electric current the scenes impressed upon the aura that constantly II6 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. emanates from the brain ; such dreams come only in disturbed slumbers, when the action of the physical disturbs the repose of this aura. Too much food taken into the stomach at a late hour is often the cause of this; diseased bodies are often vis- ited by dreams of a disagreeable nature. The pains that dis- ease brings to the physical form act upon the soul, and are telegraphed to the brain, reflecting upon it dark pictures created through a physically disorganized body. This aura, or subtle gas, surrounds the human body; fills the air that moves about the body; every touch upon that aura quickens thought. If the slumbers be disturbed, then the action of the material form gives a semi-quickening to the mind, and brings into action all that is daguerreotyped upon the brain, and accord- ing to the diseased or healthy state of the body comes the pict- ure. Often when the body is in perfect repose, and the aura floating smoothly, spirit friends send their messengers of warn- ing, or events that have just transpired. A friend departed from the earthly body, dwelling at a distance from the sleeper at the time of his or her departure, whose love for that slum- berer is great, may give warning of their departure by visiting the sleeper, and throwing their thoughts upon the soul of him who slumbers through the tranquil aura. “The trance condition in many instances is like unto the dreamer's condition, when the material is in harmony with the spiritual. There are many phases of trance conditions. The unconscious condition is that where the spirit takes entire pos- session of the human organism. Placing the subject in a som- nambulic state, he subjects the party to his entire will, and controls every action of that body, using each and all of the organs as if they were his own, the sleeper being entirely ignorant of the acts of the power controlling. These stages of entrancement that come to individuals periodically, placing them in a state of passivity for days, weeks, and months, are but the action of spirit over matter; and where the soul becomes quickened, it takes ideas and expresses itself upon subjects PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT ContROL. 117 never before apprehended, retaining, through the impression upon the brain made by the action of the aura, the surround- ings and visions while in the trance state ; being able, upon recovering from the sleep, to relate all that appeared unto the inner vision. In the semi-trance the individual has a partial knowledge of what is going on, but has not the power to con- trol his or her organs of speech ; can sometimes reflect and meditate upon the words that are being uttered through their own organism, but can not detain them. In this case the dual clearly defines itself; two minds are acting through one body. There is in this life a continual struggle between body and spirit. Man has not learned the law of harmony between the material and the spiritual. There is a warfare going on daily. The mind with its imperial power striving to control and over- master all, and yet every move of man's mind shows him to be depending upon his surroundings for all his actions; just as when in the interior or entranced state, he is subject to the will of the person controlling him. The many degrees of entrancement are known by the conditions of the being en- tranced, just as the difference of dreams is controlled by action on the subtle waves of ether that roll in disturbed waves, or lie in placid ripples about him. “Clairvoyance, that power of the soul to wander out through space independent of the body, comes at the birth of the individual—is constitutional. It is found oftener with the , Scotch, and is there known as second sight. The harpers of the Highlands were famed for this wondrous power ; could foretell events by the power they possessed to exercise the soul independent of the body. There are clairvoyants who see only earthly objects. This we call independent clairvoyance; but it is only independent as far as the Infinite has, through natural laws, created it independent. There is still the Con- necting link that brings through the dual life the spiritual, triumphant over the material ; and when this power comes only at times, and without the actual knowledge of the mortal, I 18 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. it is then subject entirely to the control of spirits—the inner vision is awakened to see spirit visitors and scenes in the spirit- world. Paul, when in the clairvoyant state, was lifted up into the third heaven. Guided by the law of God, his spirit was lifted from earth, and by the control of his guardian angel he visited the third sphere of the spiritual plane. John, upon the Isle of Patmos, controlled by the spirit prophet, entered the interior state, his soul became independent of his body, and directed by the angel controlling, before whom he would have fallen down and worshiped, but the angel said, ‘See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren, the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book.’ Here the clairvoyant visions were symbolically presented to John that he might see the corruption of the churches. If you will take the Bible and read it with a clear vision, looking through unstained glasses, you will there find clearly explained the power that controls the spirit of man, and enables him through dreams, and when under entrancement, to gain knowl- edge that is to advance his future welfare. He, the man, keeping his physical being in a healthy condition, that the aura, which, like swift-moving vapor, encircles his outer form, rapidly arising from the nerve center, may increase the influence of the spiritual over material. Let the body be healthy, and the spirit tranquil, that the action from the Infinite may move the electric waves, like the gentle breeze when it softly stirs the bosom of a placid lake. “Many things are taught us in this beautiful land, of which we knew naught when upon earth. Good-morning. “JoHN A. WATson.” We make the following extract from a lecture by Mrs. Cora L. V. Richmond, on the subject given by the audience, “IS MATERIALIZATION TRUE P IF so, ITs PHILOSOPHY.” “Mediums for materialization are those who possess, there- fore, a certain amount of that nervous, or what we choose to PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT CONTROL. Irg term psycho-dynamic power that is unemployed by themselves, but which spirits aware of its existence and of the method of its manipulation, can employ for the purposes of materialization. As the body, in its physical structure, attracts to itself the par- ticles of the atmosphere to sustain it, so the spirit can attract from the atmosphere substances and particles, through this force that exists in the materializing medium, out of which can be fashioned either the pictured likeness of the friend, the sculptured image, or the living and apparently vitalized form. And this law by which the vital forces of the medium are util- ized in this way, is a law of spiritual volition acting upon the medium, but the medium's mind having nothing to do with it, save the passivity with which the medium and the surroundings meet the effort of the spirit to do this thing. The agitation of a single wave of thought, the opposition of a single violent will-power, anger, suspicion, hatred, all violent passions, inter- fere with this normal circulation of the fluid that is employed by spirits in materialization. Hence you are frequently told : Be harmonious in your circles; keep your minds passive ; let there be no violence; let there be no suspicion. Why? Be- cause, even as the various points of the magnet become de- polarized by certain processes, so these various atoms become depolarized, so far as the spirit-will is concerned, by the agitation of intermediate waves of thought, and can not be thus utilized. “When the conditions are perfect the perfect form is evolved; when the conditions are imperfect various stages are evolved, and are considered failure ; sometimes are even considered im- postures. But supposing, in the process of taking a picture, you were suddenly to rush into the photographer's dark cabinet, insist upon hauling out the plates and seeing what progress he had made, would it be imposture, on the part of the photog- rapher, if there was no real picture there P So many persons imagine, because, during the process of materialization, certain things are discovered that do not seem to conform to their I 20 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. ideas of what should be the state of affairs, therefore there is trickery. Do you consider the sculptor an impostor because when you tear aside the screen that veils the unfinished marble it is incomplete P Do you consider anything in science an im- posture because it is interrupted before it is fully formed P “You have heard that materialized forms or images have been interrupted in the process of development, and that various things, all confusion, seemed to appear in the cabinet. Did it ever occur to you that a spirit requires time and conditions to make perfect things, just as well as mortals, and that those conditions and that time may be as carefully preserved from in- terruption under all fitting test conditions that should be applied beforehand and not during the time of the materialization ? “Did it ever occur to you that the most delicate process in the universe must be that process that through occult forces evolves a palpable image to the sight of men P And the only wonder is, not that there are so few of these manifestations that are satisfactory, but that there are any, considering the delicate nature of the conditions required, and considering the rude, uncouth, and crude manner in which human beings proceed to the investigation of them. “If you would know the laws that govern materialization, you should guard them as carefully, preserve the conditions as sacredly, treat then with the same kind of deference and the same kind of reason that you do the carefully prepared plate, the clectric battery, the various refined and subtle processes of chemical science that are oftentimes experimented with a thousand times before there is one successful result. “This substance upon which spirits act to produce the repre- sentation of material forms is, as we state, the most delicate of all substances which the human form holds, and is the one ulti- mate link connecting matter with spirit. Upon this spirit breathes its volition or will-power; an aura is created that draws just so much of the vitality from the form of the medium, and frequently from others who are in sympathy that are present. PHILosophy of SPIRIT ContROL. I 2 Iſ These subtle and delicate atoms attract other corresponding atoms from the atmosphere; and by this process of motion, which is created when these atoms are drawn from the form of the medium, the attraction goes on until either the picture, the sculptured image, or the vitalized form is revealed to the vision. “As we state, this process can only be comprehended by those who are accustomed to the subtle changes and transformations of chemical science; can only be comprehended by those who have studied with the greatest care, perhaps, the writings of Reichenbach, Prof. Faraday, and others who have investigated to a certain point the occult forces connected with the human system; and they must also go a step beyond this and under- stand that the volition of the spirit acting upon these sub- stances which are held in solution in the form of the medium, causes the attraction of other atoms, and the making up of the fabric which to that intent and for that purpose is for the time being materialized. “Sometimes the question is asked: Is it, then, only an image? Certainly it is only an image. No one ever saw with mate- rial eyes an actual. spiritual form. This is an image (the out- ward form) which expresses yourself to-day. No one pretends it is the man or the woman that sits here in the outer garb of material life, and fashioned and formed shapely or unshapely. It is simply the representation of the spirit. No one claims that this is the Ego—it is the outward image of it only. The difference between your form and the image which appears for the time being as a materialized spirit-form is that yours has passed through the process of organic life, while the spirit-form is the result of the immediate created life given by the spirit. And this explains why, in ancient lore and among the biblical prophets and seers, there were frequently men described as angels, and messengers who walked and talked and ate and drank with them as angelic visitants, these forms appearing in the guise of men, and taking upon themselves the real form of 6 I 2.2 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. existence. But these images also had power to dematerialize and disappear again without organic process of decomposition.” MATERIALIZATION, This is that phase of Spiritualism which is more convincing to skeptics than any other, but the truth must be sustained or the phase loses its effect. The spiritual mind does not require such manifestations, but the subject is being investigated more for the benefit of skeptics, materialists, and infidels. The sub- ject must be understood by minds who doubt the phenomena, by the material manifestations. The spirit-world is actively engaged in the development of mediums to perfect this phase of spiritual truth. It must be perfected before the material mind will accept it as truth. Magnetism is the element used by spirit action to so manifest the materializations that they can not be mistaken for the mediurn's double. Here is the great difficulty. Magnetism must be refined by spiritual de- velopment. This the mind so material can not understand, and consequently the harmony necessary to materialize is seldom found in promiscuous circles. Much has been said about in perfect materializations to the detriment of mediums, when in reality the mediums were unconscious of the manifes- tations transpiring from their magnetism. The objection often urged by skeptics in regard to dim light is more the want of information as to the influence which light exerts than a con- viction that the manifestations are not real. Light dispels the elements of materialization just as the warm rays of the spring sun melt the snows of winter. The water is absorbed or evap- orated—so the magnetism is absorbed by being thrown into repulsive elements. Diffusion is detrimental to materializa- tion, but repulsive elements are positively incompatible with materialization. Spirits must have proper conditions before they can influence matter in any form. This phase of Spiritualism is of a low plane, since matter is less refined than spirit; consequently PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT CONTROL. I23 materializing mediums are less spiritual and less intellectual. Their natures are less inclined to spirit communion, hence their aspirations do not rise above the material plane. The materialization phase is gaining ground. Mediums are de- veloping with better surroundings, and the magnetism is, in consequence, less repulsive to spirits of higher order. This will give that phase an impetus which will dispel skepticism that could not be done from a spiritual and intellectual stand- point. Those so material as to believe spirit nothing more than matter refined, or no spirit at all, will have to invent another theory to solve the mysterious manifestations, as they are called. Those who deny immortality will see that their friends whom they knew in earth-life still live, and bring them light from that “bourne from whence (it is said) no traveler re- turns.” This idea had its origin in the minds of those who never knew the power of spirit impression upon the mind, nor soul full of spiritual light. “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Yes, God is life, and His creatures have His life in them, so they can never die while God lives. This manifestation of His power controls all living, moving intelli- gence. God is wisdom and power, and all matter He has made has from its creation been made to praise the author of its creation by carrying out His designs. All spirit is a part of His being, and will live throughout the eternity His being fills. The material is too much the study of the mind. The spiritual is the most important. God intends to make infidels and scoffers bow their knees and hearts to the truth, which shall soon be revealed in terrible power. The materialist will have to make the confession that God is spirit, and not matter refined. God is God, and God is spirit. “No man hath seen God at any time;” no man will ever see Him only in the greatness of His power. Christ is the power of God manifested in the sphere of light and love. Christ taught this idea when He said, “I am the light of the world.” He said, “How can a man love God, whom he hath not seen P” By this He meant man could 124 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, * not love God in matter, but in spirit could see Him and then could love Him as He loved the Father who had sent Him to manifest His Spirit in doing His will. God takes care of His creatures in the spirit of His manifest Son, protecting them by the ministry of His angels. Oh, how the Scriptures abound with truth which, the mind being so material, is lost to their understanding ! CHAPTER X. BIBLICAL PRO OF OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS.–CLAIR- VOYANCE AND CLAIRAUDIENCE, ETC. I HAVE been for many years in correspondence with minis- ters of the Gospel among the different Churches, who have com- municated to me freely in regard to their experience in spiritual matters, and my conviction is, that a very large number of them have had such phenomena occur with themselves, but they have not moral courage to let the Church or the world know of it. © A solution of these things may be found in Biblical history. What occurred in the days of old, have been duplicated ever since. What was considered in those days as “miraculous or supernatural,” is now known to be in harmony with the laws of man's threefold nature. Science has shed much light upon what was considered as from the Lord. Clairvoyance has been an acknowledged fact since the days of Mesmer, and the time is coming when those terms will become obsolete. I will, for the “benefit of the clergy,” and those of like mind, refer to some cases in Biblical history which may enable them to understand this subject and their cases more satisfactorily. Clairaudience, the trance and clairvoyance (clear seeing) are recognized by St. Paul when enumerating the gifts under the Gospel. This he denominates “The discerning of Spirits.” It is the perception of spiritual beings and things pertaining to earth-life as well. It may be divided into independent and subjective. In the former the spiritual perceptions act inde- (125) 126 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. • pendent of any extraneous spirit agency; the latter when spirits impress a medium's mind so that they perceive whatever they will them to. Many persons have these visions or images pass before them. Some who, at times, are independent clairvoyants, have also these subjective scenes. There are persons also who are possessed of the faculty of seeing at a distance what is transpiring. This has been demonstrated in thousands of instances. Locality seems to have an influence upon this clairvoyant faculty. There is something in the at- mosphere of mountains, which seems to assist in its develop- ment. Among the Scotch Highlands and the Swiss mountains it is common. The mountainous country of Judea was favora- ble for the development of this faculty; hence we find some of those among the worthies of olden time. Elijah and Jephthah, the prophet and the warrior, upon whom the “Spirit of the Lord” came, were both from Gilead. Elisha had this faculty. We find in the fifth chapter of second Kings, where Naaman was cleansed through his mediumship, and had departed ; the servant of Elisha, thinking as his master had received no com- pensation for the cure he had wrought, that he would collect the bill, so he ran after him and demanded a talent of silver. Upon his return, Elisha said unto him, “Whence comest thou, Gehazi P” And he said, “Thy servant went no whither.” And he said unto him, “Went not mine heart with thee when the man turned again from the chariot to meet thee P Is it time to receive money. ... The leprosy, therefore, of Naaman shall cleave to thee and thy seed forever.” Elisha perceived what his servant was doing by his spiritual or clairvoyant faculty. Again, in the next chapter, “The king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsel with his servants, saying, in such and such a place, shall be my cannp.” Elisha seems to have been able to know of the movements of his enemy, and warned the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down.” “There- BIBLICAL PROOF of SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONs. 127 fore the heart of the king of Syria was troubled for this thing, and he called his servants and said unto them, will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel P And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king, but Elisha the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel, the words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber.” Then again, in the same chap- ter we find a detachment of troops sent down to capture Elisha. “And when the servant of the man of God (Elisha) had risen up early and gone forth, behold a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots, and his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, what shall we do? And he an- swered, Fear not, for they that be with us, are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” Elisha being a clairvoyant medium, was enabled to see this heavenly host come to protect him from being captured by his enemies. They were probably the spirits of Israelitish war- riors, who, feeling a deep interest in the success of their kin- dred, were present to render whatever assistance was in their power. The young man not being possessed of this faculty could not see the invisible host until it was imparted to him by the imposition of Elisha's hands in answer to his prayer. We learn some very important lessons from this scrap of Biblical history. First, that ministering hosts are sent for the pro- tection of mortals, and though they are invisible to the natural eye, are plain to the spirit eye. Second, that there is a powerful influence produced by prayer. There is another instance of Elisha's clairvoyant powers in the latter part of the same chapter. The king of Israel became enraged against Elisha because he had been directed by him, and sent an offi- cer to arrest him. “But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him, and the king sent a man from before him; 128 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head.” Samuel presents another case of clairvoyance. “The asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul, Take now one of the servants with thee and arise, go seek the asses. . . . . So they went to the city where the man of God was. . . . . And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. . . . . And for thine asses that were lost three days ago set not thy mind upon them, for they are found.” This may seem like a small business for a prophet. In these days it would be called fortune-telling. Samuel told Saul also that he would be king of Israel, though they had never had a king to reign over them. He was a prophet, for in those days we have Bible testimony that a prophet, a seer, and a medium were the Sanle, In the history of Samuel, he is among the very few men against whom no charge has ever been brought in the Old Tes- tament. We find in him a medium of remarkable power. He was clairaudient when a child, and after he had been on the other side several years, he came to tell this same Saul whom he had anointed king of Israel, that on the succeeding day he and his sons would be in the Spirit-land. Joseph is another of the pure men of the Old Testament, yet if he had lived in our day he would be condemned, as he was a diviner, for we find in Gen. xliv. that he gave directions to the steward to “put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth.” This was Benjamin's sack. After his brethren had departed, he directed his steward to follow them, and upon find- ing the cup to say to them, “Is not this in which my lord drink- eth and whereby indeed he divineth" (ver. 5), and the 15th verse of the same chapter confirms this view where Joseph said unto them (his brethren), “What deed is this that ye have done P Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine P” Joseph, therefore, must have been a medium ; and if his history could have been written, it would be clearly demonstrated BIBLICAL PROOF OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. 129 through his whole life that he had been controlled by angelic ministers. Jesus possessed this power far beyond any one in sacred or profane history, of whom we have any knowledge. It is not necessary to refer to the numerous instances where He exer- cised it during His ministry. It was by this power that He was enabled to select His disciples, and though they were from the lower walks of life, they were perhaps all of them mediumistic to a greater or less extent. His power looked into the deep- est recesses of the human mind, and comprehended the inner- most thoughts of those with whom He came in contact. Stephen had a clairvoyant view of the spirit-world before he passed over, seeing “heaven opened.” Paul was both clair- voyant and clairaudient. So was John when he was “in the spirit” on the Isle of Patmos. I have not space to copy more of these, having given sufficient to prove that the clairvoyants of this age have powers similar to those given us in the Old and New Testaments. I will therefore give some Scripture proof of this state, which may aid in search for more light. The trance state is recog- nized both in the Old and New Testaments. It is an abnormal state, both of the mind and the body. Sometimes it resembles a profound sleep ; at others it bears a striking resemblance to death. Webster says, “It is a state in which the soul seems to have passed out of the body into another state of being, or becomes wrapped in visions.” In medical science it is de- scribed as a total suspension of the mental powers and volun- tary motion, while respiration and circulation are continued. The true explanation of the trance state, like some other phases must be referred to magnetism. Our first knowledge of this state was derived from reading the Bible. It is referred to as a condition in which persons are placed when they see and hear with their spirit senses. There is some similarity between this phase of mediumship and clair- voyance. In it the faculties of the mind are in a more pro- 6% I3o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. found state of subjection to spiritual influences. The spiritual faculties are exercised, while the natural faculties seem to be dormant; or at least they are in subjection to the spiritual faculties. I have seen a number of persons entranced during the ex- citement of religious revivals. By reference to the cases men- tioned in the New Testament, it would seem that they have been somewhat under religious or prayerful influence. Thus, when Paul was making his “defense "before the “chief captain,” re- hearsing his history, he says (Acts xxii. 17), “And it came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple I was in a trance. And I saw him (Jesus) saying unto me, Make haste and get out of Jerusalem, for they will not re- ceive thy testimony concerning me, and I said, Lord, they knew that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee.” Again (Acts x. 9) : “Peter went up on the house to pray about the sixth hour. And became very hungry and would have eaten, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened.” The two individuals chosen as subjects of this important case, represent the extremes of so- ciety, religiously considered, at that time. Peter was an Is- raelite of the most bigoted class. Cornelius was a centurion or captain of one hundred Roman soldiers. He represented a class that was utterly ostracised by the Jews as unclean, and consequently unfit to enjoy the Gospel privileges. We are told, however, that this Roman captain, Cornelius, “was a de- vout man and feared, with all his house, gave much alms to the poor, and prayed to God always.” To this good heathen, who had retired in the afternoon for prayer, God sent one of His ministering spirits upon one of the most important missions that ever any “person’’ went to perform. It was to show to Peter and the Jewish nation that God was no respecter of per- sons. I am of the opinion that this same “man” who appeared to Cornelius was the same one that entranced. Peter, and thus broke down the partition wall between Jews and Gentiles, by BIBLICAL PROOF OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. 131 showing that the most important event that ever transpired for the promulgation of the Gospel, was accomplished through angel ministrations. It resulted in the revelation of the new and sublime truth, that the Gospel provision was for the Gen- tile world, for every nation under the heavens. “God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.” This glorious truth, thus revealed through this spirit manifes- tation, is too little appreciated in our day. Paul was entranced when he was ordered to go and preach to the Gentiles. He was doubtlessly entranced when he was “caught up into the third heaven,” for he says he could not tell whether he was in or out of the body during that experience. These cases of trance show that this state has been recognized as one of the phases of spirit communion in establishing the primitive Chris- tian Church, and it is among the commonest phases of spirit manifestations of the present time. Our inspirational speakers are entranced, while some spirit uses their vocal organs for the purpose of speaking to the people. There is also a semi-trance state wherein the individ- uality of the medium is not entirely obliterated. Mankind must be enlightened before they will receive any- thing that antagonizes their preconceived opinions, which opin- ions are more the result of education and association than the exercise of reason and judgment. The spiritual philosophy antagonizes all the teachings which have flooded the world in regard to the government of God and the salvation of the hu- man race. . This philosophy has remained in obscurity and concealment, for the reason man has never received until within the past and present centuries sufficient knowledge of science to develop the hidden laws of nature to the under- standing of the human mind. The scientific developments in the natural world have led to the development of much spirit- ual truth and knowledge, because the discovery of human mag- netism and the electric forces which control the brain have so I32 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. combined as to enable the spiritual to assert its superior force and bring matter under its control. The spirit in and out of the body come in rapport, and so harmonize the electric forces as to enable the spirit out of the body to manifest through the material organism when the material is submissive or entirely passive to the might and will of spirit. I want to explain how the spirit comes to earth and takes possession of the human organism, and makes the things of earth and heaven known of which the medium has no knowl- edge. The brain of the medium is like the “sensitive plant,” when you touch it its leaves fold together—the appearance of power and life too are almost removed. The rays of the sun will bring it back to life and beauty when the influence of your touch has passed away. Just so with the medium's brain when under the influence of spirit control. The force of will and ac- tion is lost so far as they can exercise it, for the stronger influ- ence has control. Remove spirit control or power, and reason or mental activity asserts itself, because the brain is restored to its normal condition by the force of electric currents passing through the system of the medium. Electric currents which proceed from the brain are returned by other electric currents which proceed from the forces of nature. This is why the ma- terializing medium is held in a state of entrancement, in order that he or she may not receive the magnetism which comes from the persons present and the electric forces of the atmos- phere that naturally restore the brain when spirit power or magnetism is withdrawn. These currents are controlled by the spiritual chemistry, which mortals can not understand, and made to serve the purpose of materialization. When the me- dium is not in good condition, the laws of his or her brain are not perfect in their working; hence, spirits can not bring their forces to bear and thus speak, write, or materialize through their organism. Machinery must always be in good order, or the party running it will be perplexed and fail to produce re- sults which his knowledge and power could, if provided with º BIBLICAL PROOF OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. I33 the right means of making that knowledge and power avail- able. The spiritual philosophy is the grandest study ever presented to the human mind, and can reconcile all the mysterious and wonderful occurrences that have startled humanity in every age of the world. All the wonderful developments of science have been due to spirit guidance and might. Throughout all ages of the world, spirits have returned to earth and influenced mortals in some way or other. God's plan of operating is not in mythical legend nor the imaginations of an educated brain, for His laws always produce the same results when no ob- stacles interfere through ignorance of those laws. Mankind, whenever informed as to the working of God's laws, has never failed to inaugurate what has been termed a wonderful era in the world's history. When the mind has taken hold of nature's laws and unraveled the mysterious manifestations which have in different ages startled or raised the cry of persecution, then a new revelation has been made from the spirit-world and one more step has been taken toward the great and marvelous revelation which is now enlightening mankind in regard to nat- ural and spiritual laws, and how God deals with His creatures, thereby making the doctrine of immortal life a tangible truth. There is a deep and hidden law of mind and matter which makes them act in concert. The first chapter of John con- firms what I say. If this were understood, it would unravel the mysterious workings of mind and explain how its action subserves spirit control. The spirit which was in the begin- ning and was God was the Word, and not the humanity which dwelt among men. “The word was made flesh.” This was manifest spirit and God, or spirit dwelt in the flesh, thereby showing how spirit controls matter for the accomplishment of God's own purposes. God is a spirit and works through agen- cies, otherwise you could have no comprehension of His mighty power. The orthodox view of the Word is, that it was Jesus Christ who dwelt in the flesh. In Him the spirit I34 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. which was in the beginning with God and was God manifestly dwelt. He was the life and the light of men. His light shone into the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. The minds of His disciples were too material to receive the spiritual illumination, and were more interestěd in His material manifestations than the spiritual truths He intended to teach by them. They did not understand that Christ was with them temporarily in the flesh to show then how God could make the flesh the medium of the spirit-power which controlled the mind and matter He had made to serve His own purposes and will. When He instructed them in regard to the resurrection, they did not recognize Him as the life and the light of men. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” were incomprehen- sible terms to them when He was crucified, dead, and buried. The light did not flash into their minds until after His resurrec- tion, when He appeared and gave tangible proofs of His iden- tity. Then they saw what power spirit had over matter, and believed He was verily and truly God. He told them differ- ently when He said, I can do nothing of myself. He knew to what power He was subservient, and how far He was made the agent of that power. - COMMUNICATION FROM ROBERT DALE OWEN. Being desirous to hear from this apostle of Spiritualism, we invoked his presence in our library when the following was written through our home medium : “The mysterious philosophy of spirit communion has all been explained, from the tiny raps which occurred more than a quarter of a century ago, to the crowning work of materializa- tion. I do not mean that materialization is the cap-stone of Spiritualism, but I mean it is the cap-stone of phenomena; there is more in one communion of spirit with spirit than a thousand phenomena, let them be even more demonstrative than any which have been revealed. The communion which the spirit-man realizes when he rises to that plane of BIBLICAL PROOF OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. 135 purity which God recognizes as His own image is that which you should covet. “My entrance into spirit-life was bright and glorious. I had made spirit communion with God and angels my chief concern while in the body and upon the shores of the ‘Debatable Iland.’ I entered with joy. A convoy of angels met my in- corruptible body, and made me a welcome guest in their beau- tiful homes until mine was arranged for occupancy. This seems strange to you. Suppose you were to visit a strange country, notwithstanding your friends may have gone before, they may not have been able to arrange your home just exactly as might suit your taste and desire. You must have a word in its arrangement, of course, and then you will be happier in it. Now, this word, my friends, must be spoken and acted upon while you are in the body. The part you must necessarily take in the arrangement of your homes must be settled while in the body Oh how important to understand these things, and act according to the understanding. God is all-wise and powerful; He does nothing that is not wisdom, love, and knowledge; He made and fixed immutably His laws for the working of the grand machinery of His kingdom, natural and spiritual. How beautifully do they harmonize when His creat- ures obey them, as He has ordered ; His orders are manifested in the results which obedience or violation produce. “I would write longer to-night, but do not think it best. Sometime will come and tell Mr. Watson my views on organi- zation, as I now see the subject and understand the spiritual interest of it better than while in the body. Good-night. “ROBERT DALE OWEN.” We then asked him to tell us the philosophy of spirits com- ing when we specially desire or invoke their presence. The following was received in reply : “Oh how you have misunderstood the laws which connect spirit with spirit. There is a chain which binds the spirit-world 136 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. in one complete whole. That chain is electric and caused to vibrate by the slightest spirit touch. Your desires cause this chain to vibrate with a sound much like that produced by the telegraph ticking when the message you desire is impressed. We in spirit-life are always listening for the click of the spirit chain. Then we know we are wanted, and we come to learn the nature of the mortal's desire. If we can satisfy we do, but if not and another can, we go at once for that one. The ex- isting desire on the part of mortals, and the willingness, yes, more than willingness, on the part of spirits to help bring them at once in rapport, and thus the communion is established. I can not make this altogether plain to you. As ºpu have often heard, I must reiterate the impossibility of conveying a correct idea of spiritual living, and how mortals and spirits commune by comparing with things in the material world. Jesus did this when He taught His disciples, but they did not understand the spiritual import of His parables. You will never understand these things until you put aside the mortal part, and nothing but spirit is seen.” º The following was received soon after the above : “I come to fulfill my promise made when I first communi- cated with you from spirit-life. I wish you to know my views of the Christian feature of Spiritualism as I now understand it. There is more ºnvolved in the term Christian as regards the or- ganization of Spiritualists than I believed while in the body. Spiritualism must have circumscription before it can be suc- cessful as an organized body or power. You, who remain on the earth's sphere, must hear what the spirits who are one with you in the great work of converting the world have to say, since we can see more clearly than you what is best to be done, in order to make the organization one united whole. Organizations can exist without the union of soul and spirit in those who compose them. You know this, for you long served a body which has its thousands banded together without always BIBLICAL PROOF OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. I37 being united in purpose, to say nothing of the want of union in faith. Many work without faith in the object designed to be accomplished. In the spiritual organization you must have a united faith as well as action. You can never make the com- pact one of success and utility without union upon the great fundamental idea, which is and must be Christian. The ortho- dox believers must see this idea prominent in the organization to elicit interest sufficient to draw them away from their church connections, notwithstanding the faith of many has “waxed cold.' “I said in the beginning that there was more involved in the term Christian than I thought while in the body. We Spirit- ualists admit the Divine mission and power of Christ, and be- lieve the Christ principle which comes, from the Father and dwelt in Jesus is to save the world. Now, if we believe this, and this must be the leading idea in organization, why not let the term Christian have its full force P No other term fully expresses the distinction between radical and phenomenal Spiritualists, and those who strive to enlarge the spirit man by reaching out for Spiritual light and holiness. No other term will carry with it the weight and influence, nor draw into the Spiritual ranks so much of the right kind of element. Jesus Christ must be your leader, and His precepts must be your life, otherwise you can not reach the plane of Spiritual perfection, which you must as an organization, as well as individuals, to convert the creeds and dogmas of the churches into the broad creed of spirit-communion, this communion being based upon the teachings of Christ alone.” CHAPTER XI. B I B L I C A L H IS TO R Y. THERE has been much misunderstanding among those who hold the orthodox view of man's nature in regard to the true signification of the penalty threatened Adam in case he partook of the forbidden fruit. This penalty is found Gen. ii. 17, “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Theology teaches that as Adam did not die in the physical sense of the term, as now used, the opinion has generally ob- tained that the term death must in this case be taken to mean a spiritual or moral death. By carefully examining the mar- ginal reading it will be seen that the death threatened was not to be fully carried into effect in the very day he might eat the forbidden fruit. The expression, “thou shalt surely die,” when literally rendered, dying thou shalt die, gives the true sense of the original. This would indicate a continuation of the act of dying, that he would begin to die that very day, and the pro- cess of decay and death would go on indefinitely until it became complete and final. By his own sin or disobedience to the mandate man sowed the seeds of decay in his own nature, the sure harvest of which would be universal death to his race. It is an unvarying rule in criminal cases that the penalty is, or should be, always in accordance with the crime; and apply- ing this rule, which is obviously in harmony with the principle (138) BIBLICAL HISTORY. I39 of justice, we believe this to be the true interpretation of this very important transaction. In order for us to have a correct view of the true meaning of any record, we must divest ourselves of every bias which our former teachings may have given us. This, we know by experience, is a most difficult task to perform. Our religious training, and consequent prejudice, is the most difficult to eradicate of any other. We should read the Bible as we would any other history, without any theories of former teachings. This we conceive to be the only true way to pro- ceed in order to arrive at the truth therein set forth. Few persons, comparatively, have thus read and studied this wonderful production entirely free from religious prejudice. Having been for several years endeavoring thus to read this an- cient record, containing so much truth under symbolic and alle- goric representation, we have long since come to the conclu- sion that it does not teach the doctrine we were taught it did, and which we for more than a third of a century from the pul- pit proclaimed as a fundamental doctrine of revelation, and the basis one upon which others are necessary to complete the structure of popular theology. (Gen. iii. 19). We find the sentence pronounced on man at the close of the curse which God said would be the effect of the sin. “In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread until thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken ; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” This sentence certainly means physical death, which has been literary exe- cuted upon Adam and his race. This interdicted fruit grew on “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” After they had par- taken of it their Creator declares (Gen. iii. 22, 23, 24): “And the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever : therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man, and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a I4O THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. flaming sword which turned every one to keep the way of the tree of life.” In these quotations we have the history of this, the most im- portant event that is recorded in this wonderful book. From our present stand-point, we find nothing to justify the opinion that death, and all our suffering, were introduced by this one act of disobedience. There is doubtless truth in this allegorical account of the fall, as it is called ; but that the popular teaching in regard to it is literally true, we have not for many years believed. We can not see how any intelligent mind which is free from religious teaching in regard to the introduction of evil into the world can, after reading the account given of this event, come to the con- clusion that all our moral and natural evil was brought about by Adam and Eve's transgression. The subsequent Biblical history affirms that God and Moses, who is claimed to be the writer of the first five books of the Pible, were very intimately associated for forty years. Is it not passing strange that this the most wonderful event that has ever occurred on this or any other planet, should never have been referred to in the numerous interviews re- corded in these books between God and Moses P Neither Joshua, who succeeded him, nor Samuel, or any of the prophets, make any reference to or indorse the popular theo- logical theory of the fall by our federal Head and representa- tive ; nor did David, “the sweet singer of Israel,” though said to be a man after God's own heart, or Solomon, who suc- ceeded him, and is said to be the wisest man who ever lived or ever would live, make the slightest reference to this tragical event. It does seem to me that if this was the foundation-stone upon which theology was to be erected, that Jesus would, in His first sermon on the Mount, have stated the fact, so that all might see the basis of the Christian superstructure which He had come to build thereon. We look in vain for any reference BIBLICAL HISTORY. I4 I to the creation or the fall of Adam and Eve, here or anywhere in His subsequent teaching during the three and a half years of His ministry. Why this silence of all the writers of the Old Testament, and Jesus, the Founder of the Christian religion, in regard to this stupendous event, according to the popular teachings of the day ? Why do we hear nothing of this most important of all the transactions recorded in the Bible, from the third chapter of Genesis to Paul's Letter to the Romans? Geology has long since demonstrated that the theory of the creation, as literally understood by Moses' teaching, is with- out the slightest foundation, and no intelligent mind will advo- cate the old theory of six literal days' labor by God and a Sab- bath of rest on the seventh. Those days are now understood as indefinite periods that may embrace millions of years. Our opinion is, that the doctrine of the fall, as has been taught, is destined also to live only in the history of the past as one of the many things that advancing knowledge will ulti- mately show—a theory that will be more honoring to our Heav- enly Father—more conducive to man's happiness—presenting stronger inducements to moral rectitude, and more in harmony with the teachings of the Volume of Inspiration. I make the following extract from an article I wrote for the A'. P. Journal, bearing upon this important subject : “A popular error among Spiritualists as well as Christians is confounding the teachings of Jesus with the creeds and dogmas of the churches. They are separate and distinct, as I shall endeavor to show from the record given by the Evan- gelist of what He taught as the basic principles of the religion He came to establish. “He found the Jewish Church composed mainly of two sects, viz.: Scribes and Pharisees. In His first sermon He incul- cates purity of heart, and assures His hearers ‘that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven.’ I42 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “The Pharisees were the strictest sect in the performance of all the ceremonials of religion, but knew nothing of its spirit- uality. In this sermon, and throughout His ministry, He openly rebuked the observance of the Mosaic law and the materialism of the Jewish religion. - “Notwithstanding this, there are Spiritualists as well as Chris- tians who believe that He indorsed the Mosaic account of the creation and fall of man, with its consequences. “This is a very important question, upon the solution of which much depends. Did Jesus ever by word, or by any fair interpretation of what He said at any time, make the slightest reference to the acts of Adam and Eve P Nor do we find any reference to them in the Old Testament after the third chapter of Genesis. Neither of the Evangelists gives us any account of this event upon which hangs so many dreadful consequences in this world, as well as untold realities of the eternal state. In every system of religion there is a cardinal truth or error which, like the first link of a chain, necessarily brings all the other links along with it. Here are first links of the chain of creedal Christianity, which I contend does not receive the indorsement of Jesus, nor does it form the basis of the Christianity. He came to establish. “The popular teachings of Christianity are, that we fell by Adam's unbelief, and that we must be saved by faith in the atoning sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross. We find not the slightest allusion to faith in the Sermon on the Mount, but the doing of the things Jesus taught, constitutes the wise man who built his house upon the rock. Here is the fundamental error of the teachings of theology, that faith is the condition upon which is suspended the salvation of mankind who hear and are capable of accepting the Gospel. It is by doing, more than by believing, that we are to be saved; as Paul says, we are to work out our own salvation. This question seems to be for- ever settled by the Author of Christianity, when He brings the judgment day before His hearers in the 25th chapter of Mat- BIBLICAL HISTORY. 143 thew. In this He shows as clearly as can be that it is not faith, but feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and prisoner, and ministering to the wants of humanity. In perfect harmony with this, James gives the definition of true religion to be the visiting the fatherless and widow in their affliction, and keeping himself unspotted from the world. Here is a religion that is reasonable—one which the Jew and Gen- tile, Pagan and Christian, Scientist and Spiritualist, can accept as rational, and which, if practiced by mankind, would make man's inhumanity to man cease to cause countless millions to mourn. This is to be the religion of the coming Church, the Christianity of the future. It is with this Christianity that true Spiritualism harmonizes in the great fundamental principle taught by Jesus, that whatsoever we sow, that shall we also reap.” Soon after the baptism of Jesus He passed through His temp- tation, after which He chose His disciples, and commenced His ministry by preaching His Sermon on the Mount. In this He sets forth in clear, plain, strong language, the principles of the religion He canne to establish. This was emphatically practica- ble. He taught His disciples to pray by giving a form of prayer. Throughout His life He was a man of prayer. We read of His rising before day to pray; and of His spending whole nights in prayer. He assured the disciples there were some evil spirits who could not be cast out only by fasting and prayer. He closed His eventful life by praying in agony in Gethsemane, that the cup might pass from Him, and for His enemies on the cross, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He was divinely overshadowed, grasping and appropriating the good and true that He found in old systems. He rejected the old obsolete statutes of the Jewish dispensation, saying, “Ye have heard it was said by them of old time,” “But I say unto you.” Jesus stands in relation to the past the best embodiment of I44. THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Christian Spiritualism. He was the richest Judean outgrowth of the SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY the world had ever witnessed. By the exercise of sympathy and aspiration, by effort and con- secration to the truth, by daily holy living in the highest heav- enly relations, His “conversation was in heaven,” by which He was quickened and intensified from the celestial heavens, His original pre-existent home before Abraham's day. He virtually lived in two worlds, the Christ of tenderness and love, ex- periencing the sweetest union and fellowship with His Father, the Infinite God. He was a practical Spiritualist, worshiping in spirit and truth the universal Father, establishing on earth a spiritual kingdom which is destined to break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, as the prophet uplifting the curtain of time foresaw, and that of “His kingdom there should be no end.” His kingdom was to be set up within the souls of men, and to be as extensive as the races of mankind. His second com- ing was to be spiritual and with power, in the “clouds of heaven,” with holy angels and ministering spirits, freighted with exalted truths, and the enunciation of etermal principles is in process now all around the inhabited globe. “Resist not evil.” “Love your enemies.” “Blessed are ye when men shall revile and persecute you, and pray for them that despitefully use you.” “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Though walking with men, He talked with angels. His “kingdom of heaven was within you” in the heart. His hell was the “prison” out of which none were to “come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.” He thus showed in His first sermon the great LAW OF RECOMPENSE as the basic principle upon which His religion was founded. He was the practical impersonification of the principles He taught— UNIVERSAL LOVE, UNIVERSAL PURITY, UNIVERSAL CHARITY. These were the three great pillars in the soul-temple of the kingdom. He came to establish on earth preparatory to entering BIBLICAL HISTORY. I45 upon the spiritual kingdom in heaven. . The inner reign of truth, love, and self-denial were the cardinal features which He promulgated throughout His ministry. He established No CREED, NO CODE, NO CHURCH ORGANIZA- TION, no clerical investments, no fossil forms of worship. Purity of heart, holiness of life, were the only guarantee of . seeing God and enjoying the happiness of the better land. Multitudes of mankind now feel the divine influx of this beau- tiful faith, this belief in Jesus, the ascended Son of the Eternal Father, who brought life and immortality to light by the ever- lasting truths which He proclaimed, and by His demonstrated resurrection from the dead. To Mary He said: “Touch me not, for I am not ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and to your God.” Before departing to that many-mansioned house eternal in the heavens, He assured His disciples in all the ages, “These signs shall follow them that believe.” “In my name shall they cast out devils.” “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” These signs did follow as the history given in the Acts of the Apostles, and were the means of spreading the Gospel wherever it was preached by them. These gifts continued in the Church until the third century, according to Eusebius, the “father of Church history.” But under the reign of Constantine it became the stepping-stone to political prefer- ment, and consequently became corrupt when this power dis- appeared. Pure Spiritualism is restoring this “gift of heal- ing” through many who possess it now throughout the world. While sincerely believing in Jesus, our trust is in God, our heavenly Father, who is the Eternal Infinite life and light of universal existence. In holiest fellowship with Jesus, angels, and loved spirits, with whom we have been associated in our earth- life, we live in blissful hopes of a reunion on the other side the veil which separates the natural from the spiritual world. The disciples were directed to tarry at Jerusalem until they 7 I46 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. should be endued with power from on high. The Apostles met in an upper room, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord, in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sit- ting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like fire, and it sat on each of them ;” “And began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance;” “And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born.” Here is the most remarkable spirit manifestation that had ever been witnessed in that or any preceding age. Here were the conditions necessary for successful control. Harmony, “one accord,” here was prayer. “And they prayed”—invoca- tion, aspiration, the earnest breathings of the heart to God, for His blessings to be poured out by the Baptism of the Spirit. The spiritual atmosphere was intensified upon these susceptible Apostles, thus increasing the magnetic battery, they were surcharged and thrilled with the electric influx. One of the demonstrations of Spiritual Clairvoyance estab- lishes the fact that each individual is enveloped in a spiritual sphere. The spiritual manifestations witnessed by many have been similar to this from which such wonderful results were accomplished. Up to this time the success of Jesus and His disciples had been comparatively very limited. Three hundred is the high- est estimate of those who had come out for the Nazarene. But when the gift of tongues was bestowed on them, and the nations were assémbled at Jerusalem, and Peter in his sermon showed that this was the time “which was spoken of by the prophet Joel,” when God should pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And the same day there were added unto them, about three thousand souls, and five thousand at another time, so the Gospel was spread through these mediumistic disciples. . CHAPTER XII. R E LIGION OF J E S U.S. SPIRITUALISM has its PHENOMENA, its PHILOSOPHY, and its RELIGION. The majority of Spiritualists are content with observ- ing the phenomena of the different phases of manifestations. Like the Jews of olden time, and many of the Church at present, trust in, and are satisfied with the externals, without any knowl- edge or experience of the spirituality which they were designed to represent. The phenomena are important. The evidence that man exists after the physical organization is dissolved must be demonstrated. This is proven beyond the possibility of doubt, by unimpeachable testimony as to the identity of spirits who once have inhabited this planet, who now come and communicate with mortals in various ways, susceptible of scientific demonstration. While these facts are of scientific or logical demonstration, they do not touch the most im- portant phase of the subject—its religion. They are but the steps by which we may ascend the temple of truth in order to reach the inner sanctuary of man's nature. In this lies the most far-reaching and important truths connected with the whole subject of the intercommunion between the world of matter and the world of spirit. This is of infinitely more im- portance than the discovery of a new froce or power by which the laws of gravitation or cohesion are to a great extent con- trolled. These are often contradictory, and to the superficial observer fleeting and illusory. They often puzzle those who are desirous of knowing the truth, who have not the key or (I47) I 48 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the result of patient investigation. Those who do not go on to the religious aspect, but simply observe certain phemonena will perplex themselves with endeavors to understand their ra- tionale. They will only be the guide-posts on the highway of spirituality. In a word, all who do not see in this great move- ment of the nineteenth century the commencement of an era which is to bring about the establishment of the reign of truth, . which will sweep many of the dogmas of the past into oblivion, have failed to discover the real significance of the object to be attained by the spirit-wrold. But says the reader, “You propose to unsettle the faith of the churches.” If the search for truth from the same book, claimed to be the source from which all true theology is de- rived, unsettles any one, and puts them to reading, as the noble Bereans did, to “see whether these things are so,” I would like to stir them up as the eagle does her nest when her young are ready to fly, in order to test their wings in the air, rising from their thorny abode above the clouds, to laugh at the storm rag- ing below. There are many represented by the story of the eagle, who was hatched out and brought up among the goslins. He knew not the power he possessed, until one day an eagle discovered him among the geese, sailed down and showed him the power he inherited. He flew off with his new associate among the clouds, perfectly delighted with his newly discovered capacity to soar aloft. After having fully tested this glorious privilege, he concluded to return on a visit to his brethren, when he began to soliloquize thus: “I was born, and reared up with these, utterly ignorant of my ancestry, but now I see I am an eagle, though brought up among geese.” And he left them. One of the prophets of olden times used the eagle figure for a purpose. So do we. We want to stir up those who are still going on the tread-mill of phenomena, to soar away from these first principles and go on to the perfection of the re- ligious phase, making better men and women. If the creeds of the different sects of professed Christians will bear the search- TELIGION of JESUs. I49 ing scrutiny of the teachings of the Founder of Christianity, and they can give a sound reason for their faiths, then their foun- dation is sure and steadfast. If they are built upon the dec- laration of some council away back in the darker ages, the sooner they are remodeled the better for the churches and for the world. If the creed on a scriptural analysis proves to be, as I think it will in many cases, a human invention, dishonoring to God and pernicious to man, then every honest person should substitute for it something nobler and better suited to man's wants, and the earnest cravings of the soul in search for truth in regard to his eternal welfare. In all great movements on- ward, they have been preceded by convulsions, by the un- settlement of opinions, by the tearing up of prejudices, the sweeping away of old errors, and thus preparing the soil for the reception of the good seed sown therein. The faith that suf. ficed at an earlier and less enlightened age is not sufficient for this, which must have added knowledge. The cravings for more light springs up in the hearts of those who are pioneers of the NEw AGE, that I believe is now dawning upon the world. It comes in proportion to man's need, his fitness, and recep- tivity. Among the many causes of dissatisfaction with the present age is its crude materialism, its social sins, and its pervading selfishness. The minds of many must be unsettled as the first necessary step to advanced knowledge from which a truer life can be inspired. sº During our early investigations of Spiritualism we received communications from the spirit controlling our circle in 1855, that it was not their purpose to be iconoclastic. They did not wish to tear down, but to build up. That the churches had acted up to the light they had received, but took too material or literal view of the teachings of the Scriptures. That they had done much good, and that the mass of the members were aim- ing to do right, and many of them desirous to investigate Spirit- ualism. Many had been deterred from it by the fanaticism of some of its advocates. I5o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, Some have entertained the opinion that if they embrace spirit intercourse it would dethrone reason, break up their churches, and disorganize society. There are fanatics among Spiritualists, as there have been among all religions. The intelligent Spiritualist appeals to rea- son as well as to the Bible to establish the philosophy of Spirit communion. He would build up all that is noble in man, and useful and improving in all organizations of society, religious or otherwise. º He would not destroy, but Spiritualize the churches, and bring them to the primitive purity whereby spirit communion wielded such a powerful influence for good over the masses of mankind. We would inspire the teachings of the pulpit with heavenly aspirations, enlarging the mind and spirit to elevating thoughts, duties, and hopes, and thus lead them upward toward the Great Father of all spirits. We believe that if the pure, simple doctrines taught by Jesus had been adhered to in their primitive simplicity, that the civil- . ized world would have long since embraced them as embody- ing the true principles of a common brotherhood of humanity, and one universal religion, recognizing one divine heavenly Father of all the races of man. But, alas ! such has not been the case. Doctrines and dog- mas that He never taught have been engrafted on His teachings, and the legitimate .result has been hundreds of sects claiming Him as their Lord and Master, while a large portion of their time and talent has been wasted in antagonizing each other, often in regard to non-essentials in religion. Practical, not theoretical religion, was what Jesus taught; by his works man was to be justified or condemned. Spiritualism is a solvent, containing that principle which we believe is destined ultimately to bind all the religions into one. Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards, in his history of the hundreds of sects, says that he thinks the time will come when these di- verse creeds of the churches will be abolished, and none re- RELIGION OF JESUs. I51 quired as conditions for membership. Its harmonial philoso- phy will connect all past philosophies that are worthy of being perpetuated, with the religions that have preceded or antedated them, connecting them with the religions that have followed, and thus will form a complete chain of history, and constitute a spiral pathway typified by Jacob's ladder, up which the angels were seen going, and down which they came with loving mes- Sages to the children of men, establishing a purer and grander faith, bringing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good-will to man.” The phenomena of Spiritualism will then have accomplished its mission. Wings of thought, inspirations of religion, forms of philosophy, faith and power, illumined by that Jesus who was represented on the earth, whose doctrines were love to God supremely, and universal love to man, as fulfilling the whole law which God had given to mankind. Spiritualism implies a great deal more than merely communi- cating with our departed friends. It embraces the infinitude of existence, and the sublime beatitude of the soul, measured by such heights and by such godliness as Jesus realized while tab- ernacling among men. His teachings have been torn and tortured, and in turn made the instrument of torture in the hands of kings and priests. Christianity, deformed and disgraced, reviled and perjured, and made to bear the crimes of the last 1,800 years, will, redeemed and purified, shine forth in its beauty “fair as the moon and clear as the sun” in his noontide glory under the domain of pure Spiritualism. The glorious truths taught by the Nazarene will widen and deepen to the comprehension of the receptive mind capable of appreciating and understanding them. They will grasp the crown, and redeem these by the measure of spiritual percep- tion and become enlightened, uplifted, and saved by their own individual growth. True spiritual knowledge tends to this end. Then the world will recognize the fountain of inspiration I52 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. whence modern thought and the religion of the future have sprung. Every year brings more knowledge of the religions of the world, and develops the sympathy between them. There are hymns and prayers, in which religious souls may unite though variously disguised. We find the same leading features anjong the various religions of the world. Confucius says: “My doctrine is simple and easy to under- stand. It consists only in having the heart right, and in loving one's neighbor as one's self.” When asked, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life P” he answered, “Is not reciprocity such a word P. What you wish done to yourself do to others.” Whilst there may be sympathy in the great historic religions of the world, shown alike in their origin, their records, symbols, and forms, the best religion the world has ever known, though it may not claim the antiquity of some, yet the teachings of Jesus are the last and best edition of God's will to His creature man. When man, with broader vision and nobler capacity, will clasp hands across the space that divides the centuries, and behold them in grand, sublime uplifting of humanity to the standard of purity of heart, holiness of life, and the practice of universal brotherhood as He taught, then shall the millennial era, we believe now dawning upon our earth, shine forth as the brightness of the sunlight from pole to pole. All true religion tends to elevate and inspire its believers to good and noble deeds, to lift and perfect the human race until they find a near walk with God, ahd by their works are they known. The divine and perfect light of a true religious life can not be hid; it shines out as a harbinger of the truth within, and makes perfect the faith by the work, that the deeds may be seen of men and felt annid all circles, bringing into use the teachings of Jesus, which make each day a day of good deeds, and one eternal Sabbath throughout the year. Such should ever be the reflex of the true teachings of religion ; and any doctrine, or any form of laws—be they organized by creeds, or RELIGION OF Jesus. I53 controlled by spirit teachers—which does not elevate and en- noble the human race, bringing them into more perfect and consistent lives, with an earnest desire to advance each day upward upon the plane of harmony, can not be classed among the purer teachings of Jesus. The Spiritualism taught through the role of perfect harmony, and which builds the harmonial philosophy as a true religion, is that which bids every man work out his own salvation ; and that light which is to guide him into the paths of peace he bears within himself, and must so replenish it with the oil of good deeds that it may shine upon the lowly, and illume the gloom of sorrowing souls, lift the fallen, and bind up the bruised hearts. Spiritualism, in its perfect teachings, must do this, or it is not Spiritualism ; and to those who have received the perfect baptism of spirit teachings, understanding and comprehending it in its given light, no other religion can satisfy. Creeds, with set forms and written services, fall before the God-given truth of a never-dying principle which is constantly increasing through facts each day revealed by angel messengers. Every heart learns the power of love, and by deeds well done through the pure, unselfish works of charity, Spiritualism makes the world grow better by harmonizing humanity, and giving them unlimited scope in the fields of progression. It lifts the soul into a plane of advanced ideas, where men take a sensible and reasonable view of all the works of God through nature's tabernacle, and by constant investigation they acquire knowledge which is controlled by wisdom, and they can no longer be chained by other men's thoughts, but unfet- tered, they soar beyond prescribed creeds and dogmas into the progressive life of never-ending truths which each day multiply and increase, giving, in their course, more food for hungry souls, and working out the God within, until the true religion of an Infinite Presence penetrates the mind of finite man. Spiritualism in its perfect advancement can alone do this. All other religions fail, and the nature of man struggles amid 7% I 54 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the stale, improvident supplies of a dictatorial God, led by selfish men who claim him as their guide. Each make, as may please their fancy, the God they wish to serve, and none find that happiness which they desire, because of the pall they have thrown over the light. Spiritualism lifts the pall, and thereby establishes a religion which can not end, but shall go on increasing and advancing, bringing ever with it greater tests of the life immortal, and lift- ing, regardless of position, the misguided and unfortunate into the new life. Then, in the end, I would say, the effect of Spiritualism upon the human mind is to remove all barriers, lift the soul of doubt into a life of certainty, establish the life beyond, and bid every man lift himself into the kingdom of God by his good deeds, and by the love he extends to God's suffering ones, and unfold to him a boundless field of knowledge, wherein he may labor and day by day gain his reward, lifting through the light of his own soul the saving grace of eternal happiness, which shall, as a beacon,. guide the wandering brother into the haven of safety, and so establish the coming of Christ, when the Father's kingdom shall be the same upon earth as in heaven. Hear what Judge Edmunds says from the other side, in a lect- ure by Mrs. Tappan, given in London, from which we make the following extract, upon the same subject: “Is Spiritualism a religion P says one. It is not a theology. If religion has to do with the human soul; if religion has to do with the spiritual of man's nature; if, indeed, it lifts, elevates, and strengthens, then it has to do with religions, but it has no creed. It has no institution where theology is taught. It has no altars, no shrines, no priests—sava the altar of the fireside, the shrine of the human heart, the priest that prattles through the lips of the young babe on its mother's knee, or the gray-haired man moved to utterance, or the young man and maiden made to prophesy. It has not in stitutions, but it enters all institutions. It walks up to the RELIGION OF JESUS. I55 priest in his stole, and in the voice of a child makes him tell his astonished hearers that the lost are not dead, but living, and can participate in our good words and works. But, says he to his auditors, this is not Modern Spiritualism I am telling you. It goes to the laboratory of the scientist, and it makes hina move to its wonderful voice. It says, There is another life and a higher; this is but a stepping-stone to another sphere, but the entrance to the temple of life. He pauses, and says it is wondrous strange. Is it a religion ? It inspires the pure and holy, no matter what creed he belongs to, so that the wor- shiper may bow under any form of service—it matters not, so long as the conscience is satisfied. Seers have seen through its living light; poets have seen and have described in living rhythm the beauties of the spirit-land. Is it a religion ? It makes known its voice whenever death comes; and those long schooled in the darkness of the past, when they thought there was no hope and no life, now lift up their voices and see there is life and there is hope. Is it a religion ? The All-Father, whose ways we are now somewhat finding out, bendeth in lov- ing care over His children, and by these various means, and through these various forms of inspiration, He speaks to the nations of the earth, and what does He say? That no age is without its revelation, and no nation without its divine and dis- tinct inspiration ; that all ages and nations have had prophets, and seers, and saviours, reared by the divine mind, the instru- ments of His divine messengers. Does it speak to-day in the churches P Yes; wherever its voice may be heard; but if forms instead of life be there, then it does not speak; it speaks to the devout in their homes, and reveals to them the wonders of the other life. Has it ever been heard before, and why does it not come to us? Oh, ask you why P Sepulchres and tombs do not possess the living spirit; outward forms and ceremonies do not invite the divine ; but wheresoever the true spirit is found, wheresoever the honest worshiper bends the knee, there is the light and life of the spirit-world. Will it then I 56 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. overturn our sacred and revered institutions P. Sacred and revered institutions can not be overturned. God himself hath fashioned them ; they are His. Destructive changes may Come by the hand of man. Truth alone is eternal. God's hand hath planted the true living life. The things of man may pass away, and be abolished; but the truth remains the same in all ages, and in all climes, and the voice of its awakening is near. It is thé fatherhood of God, over all the nations of the earth ; the brotherhood of man beneath every clime and sky, and of every tongue and color ; it is the immortality of the soul. The religion of Spiritualism has for its assistants bards and seers, prophets and sages. It has for its mouthpiece those who are the humblest in their labors, and those who are the most exalted ; the king may be inspired—the cottager may hear voices; the babe on its mother's knee may see the spirit and give utterance to its voice—the man in priestly raiment, if his soul be humbled, may see and behold, and question. It is indeed the solvent of all religions. It unites the past and the present. What before was in the dark is explained now. The long warfare between religion and science is at an end; for where science leaves us and merges into this spiritual life, there does Spiritualism begin It unites as with the key-stone of the arch the two conditions of mankind; on one side is materialism, bound and shackled to the senses, receiving only that which sense can give ; on the other side is religion or theology, receiving only that which comes from divine revela- tion and divine prophecy.” We make the following extract from Dr. J. M. Peebles: “CHRIST THE CHIEF CORNER-STONE. “Spiritualism, rightly defined, is a phenomenon, a philos- ophy, a sublime religion | And few Spiritualists as yet have reached the stablime altitudes of his universal religion whose co-assistant is science, whose creed is freedom, whose psalm is love, and whose only prayer is holy work for human good. RELIGION OF JESUs. I57 The best have not yet entered the vestibule of perfection. The ideal stretches far into the golden distance. “‘Christian Spiritualists,’ says Dr. Eugene Crowell, ‘con- tend for and adhere to the religious principle or element in Spiritualism. The name they have chosen is another name for religious Spiritualism, and is more definite and truly ex- pressive than that. Not that Christian Spiritualists ignore or are indifferent to the philosophical side of Spiritualism, but that by the assumption of this appellation they declare that Spirit- ualism is a religion as well as a philosophy, and, at the same time, clearly indicate the relationship of that religion to the religion of Jesus and the early Christians. “‘Christian Spiritualists have not the least desire to sepa- rate, much less any intention of separating, from the main body of Spiritualists; and doubtless all, like myself, would view with .indignation any attempts in that direction. Their whole object is to give individual and collective expression to the religious sentiment, to confer and commune with genial minds whenever the religious feelings of our nature seek expression, and, in all other respects, to be one in spirit and deed with our fellow- Spiritualists—working shoulder to shoulder with them in ad- vancing the interests of Spiritualism. * “‘The intention of Spiritualism is not to pull down, but to build up. Unfortunately some professed Spiritualists speak and act as if they conceived its mission to be a destructive in- stead of a reforming and sustaining one, to bruise instead of heal, to exasperate instead of conciliating, to make enemies instead of friends. Spiritualism is opposed to this rash and belligerent spirit, and it has been, perhaps, a greater foe to its progress than the combined attacks of its enemies.’ “That there are extravagances, wild theories, and moral ex- crescences sheltering themselves under the wide-spread wing of Spiritualism, is freely admitted. Is not the same true of Christianity? Let us be charitable, one toward the other; for charity, according to the apostle, is greater than faith or hope. 158 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. The spirit of the age is this—Intellect ; daring to think, unawed by public opinion. It is Conscience daring to assert a higher law in the face of a corrupted society and conforming Creeds. It is Will setting at naught the world's tyrannies, and putting into action the private whispers of the still small voice. It is Heart resting in the universal and changeless law of eternal, transcendent love. “Little children symbolize the receptivities of the heavenly life. The humble heart, sheltered away from the storms of passion, and all vestured over with the fragrant blossoms of sweet affections, is often nearer in spirit to the angels than is the cold philosopher. Love inspires, wisdom guides, faith opens the gate, and self-sacrifice leads the way into the city of peace—the City of God. Oh, come l let us worship in this temple of the eternal religion—a temple whose foundations are deep and wide as the nature of man, and whose dome, reach- ing into the Heaven of heavens, shall shelter and make radi- ant all the races of men.” Mrs. Richmond, in one of her lectures, said: “Another point is that of religion—why the spirit-world does not, in some tangible manner, reveal the true religion of humanity, and thereby save all this wandering, deviating course which the different religions of the world lead men into. “From the sphere of Wisdom I then perceived that which I never had a doubt of while upon earth, that the Christian re- ligion was the highest in its form of moral and spiritual aspira- tion that ever was given to man; but that, owing to the imper- fect perceptions of humanity, the interpretation of that religion must remain imperfect, and that no amount of spiritual teach- ing can alter, except gradually, the state of theological thought in the world; that this must come as a matter of growth, which comes by the spontaneous inspiration from the spheres of spirit-life that lie the next step beyond you, whatever that sphere may be. “The Christ principle expressed in Christianity means that RELIGION OF JESUS. I59 which is capable of being understood, according to the condi- tion of every soul, having something for each ; and that here upon earth the different orders of religion are just as essential for the different stages of human thought as the different grada- tions in a school of learning, or the different steps before you reach the higher degrees of mathematics. Therefore that re- ligion itself is the pure whiteness of the sphere of Love and Wisdom, complete in itself and perfect, but being broken ac- cording to the understanding of man ; that Christ himself broke this bread of life through the gentle ministration of His spirit, according to the understanding of those who followed him, and that various teachers of various religions have each broken the bread of life and given the different rays of spiritual truth, according as the earth was prepared to receive ; but that the light itself is one, and is pure and shining and true—the external form making no difference with the brightness of the Spirit of Truth. “The religion of Spiritualism includes everything that per- tains to the spiritual nature of man, here and hereafter ; includes everything that can promote the growth of that spiritual nature, here and hereafter; and lays the foundation of that growth—not upon external belief, speculation, creed, or aught that the out- ward man can do, but upon the growth of the spirit itself, upon the claim that the spirit has to a place in the infinite universe. Small though it be, minute in comparison to the Infinite Soul, a place in the spiritual universe every soul must claim, and, having a place, has all the rights, all the privileges, all the pos- sibilities of any other soul whatsoever. “With this basis the religion of Spiritualism includes all re- ligions, admits all, questions all, and leaves all stripped of their mere externalities—laying bare the soul of human worship for the contemplation of the soul of man. With this interpretation, the religion of Spiritualism becomes the over-arching, control- ling, all-absorbing power of the spiritual nature which abides in the soul of man.” CHAPTER XIII. F A IT H A N D W O R. K. S. * For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”—JAMES ii. 26. THE teachings of theology are that faith is the condition upon which is suspended the salvation of mankind, who hear and are capable of accepting the Gospel. This we believe to be a fundamental error—one which is fraught with the most danger- ous consequences to man's present and eternal interests. While faith has an important part to perform in the economy of man's redemption, it is not, as has been expressed, “the only condition of salvation.” This popular teaching we believe to be a most dangerous heresy, without authority from the Great Teacher upon whom the whole Christian system rests. Let us examine carefully what He taught as the conditions of salvation. There are three points brought to view in His Ser- mon on the Mount. Forgiveness in the form, of prayer and the comments thereon. The law of recompense, as taught by being “cast into prison,” “Verily, I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the utter- most farthing.” In the conclusion He says, not the hearer or the believer, but the “doer” of the things He has said, “shall be likened to the wise man.” Throughout this whole sermon there is not a word about faith, but it is full of works from the connmencement to the close. It is true that Jesus did require faith in order for Him to perform the works which He did, but they had reference to the maladies and afflictions to which hu- manity was subjected. (160) FAITH AND WORKS. 161 Faith in His power was so essential to His healing that there were places where it is said He could not do many mighty works because of their unbelief. But we can not conceive that this faith had any reference to their moral status. In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew Jesus brings the judgment day, “when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him ; then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all na- tions, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” Why this separation P Want of faith ? Nay, verily, not a word about faith ; but works are made the cause of the separa- tion, and a reward passed upon each class, one for doing, and the other for not doing good to others. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the prisoner, and min- istering to their wants, constitute the basis of their justification or their condemnation. Even though this may have been done unto the least, He will regard it as having been done to Himself, and reward them accordingly. This is in perfect har- mony with the golden rule of conduct given in the sermon, and the teachings to the lawyer who asked Him about the condi- tions of salvation. To him He said: “Love God and man; on these two hang all the law and prophets; against such there is no law" to condemn any one. In all these there is not the slightest reference to faith. Nor can any instance be found of His making faith, in His atoning sacrifice for sin, the condition of salvation, as is taught by the churches. The case of the thief on the cross is often referred to in order to estab- lish the instantaneous efficacy of faith to save even in the ago- nies of death. This teaching we believe has been productive of much evil in the present state, and its effects will be seen for ages in the spirit-world. The popular teaching that the whole life may be spent in the service of “the world, the flesh, and the Devil,” and just as the last flickerings of the lamp of life are expiring, by the exercise 162 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. of an intellectual faculty the vilest sinner may become the holiest Saint, is a dangerous error, not recognized by the teach- ings of Jesus, or the soundest principles of philosophy which govern our mental and moral natures. The only case seeming to favor that— “While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest sinner may return,”— is this “penitent thief,” as he is called. Let us look at this remarkable case. Luke is the only one of the evangelists who gives currency to this dangerous dogma. He says one of the thieves said, “Lord, remember me when Thou comestinto Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” Luke was not one of the disciples. He was a physician who wrote his Gospel and the “Acts of the Apostles” to Theophilus about the year 63 or 64, and was designed for his brother Gentiles. Mark mentions the crucifixion of the two thieves, but says nothing about this important event. John, the only one of the disci- ples who witnessed the crucifixion, omits it altogether, notwith- standing he gives a detailed account of the circumstances attending this memorable event. It is, to say the least of it, a singular omission by the only witness, who was present to know the fact. Matthew says: “Then were there two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled Hirn, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and build- est it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Ilikewise also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; Himself He can not save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will save Him, for He said, I am the Son of God. The thieves FAITH AND WORKS. I63 also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth.” The weight of the testimony is decidedly against the testi- mony of Luke. But suppose we admit, for the sake of argu- ment, that he has given the facts as they transpired, what does it prove P That the thief went to heaven P Not at all; for Jesus, after His resurrection, declared to Mary that He had not yet ascended. Admit he went with Jesus to the place of departed spirits, some of whom were in prison, to whom Jesus preached, according to the testimony of Peter. It is written He descended into hell. So that it may be proved that He went to Hades, but not to Heaven. It is said Judas went to his own place ; so did this thief, and so will every one go to the place they are fitted for, and to no other. The uni- versal law by which the pure and good ascend, is the same which impels the vicious and vile to descend to their own place. This fitness is not the result of a momentary exercise of the intellect, but a life-long working “out of our own salvation,” as Paul expresses it. Is it possible to conceive that a thief taken from prison to be crucified would be the first one to have any correct views of the spiritual nature of the kingdom Jesus came to establish P We can not think that he had any more cor- rect views on this subject than the disciples, who had been with Jesus three years and a half, and had heard His teachings and seen His works, attesting the sincerity of His mission, and yet not one of them had any correct idea of the true character of the mission of Christ. Hence, when He was arrested through the instrumentality of their treasurer, and denied by one of the bravest of their number, the history declares “then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.” They returned to their former occupations and gave up all hopes of a temporal kingdom they had believed He came to establish. Such are the facts of history, all of which go to prove that the intimate associates of Jesus were ignorant of the first 164 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. principles of the religion He had come to establish. They would not believe the testimony of those associates who had seen and recognized Him after His resurrection. Thomas must not only see Him, but must thrust his hands into His side, and put his fingers into the print of the nails in His hands be- fore he would believe He had arisen. We confess it requires greater credulity than we have to be- lieve there was any exercise of any faculty by this thief by which he was saved more than his comrade in crime. The teaching of death-bed conversions based upon this case, is, as we believe, “baseless as the fabric of a vision,” and has done more harm than we shall ever know until the solemn realities of the etermal state are revealed, and our deeds done in the body will be seen, and that which will fix our state in the spirit- world. *. Faith has an important work to perform in the economy of man's salvation. Without it we can do nothing. We engage in no enterprise even of a temporal nature without faith. We can prosecute no undertaking successfully without faith. The husbandman prepares his soil, sows his seed, and cultivates the ground by faith that he shall reap a harvest; but his faith with- -out work would never make his crop. The traveler believes if he perseveres he will reach the end of his journey, but that be- lief will not take him there without an effort on his part. Paul says: “Though I may have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (or love), I am nothing.” As Jesus opened His dispensation by enforcing the necessity of “doing” the things He had taught, without ever referring to faith, so John closes the revelation in the same manner, by say- ing, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” John said this because he had learned the barrenness of faith alone. The expression that faith could remove a mount- ain, uttered by Jesus Christ, was not intended to convey the FAITH AND WORKS. 165 idea that faith alone could do this, but that the effort must be made to remove difficulties before faith could be perfected. A dormant, inactive faith could never have proven the truth of Christ's teachings. Faith that does not lead to good works is not faith, but mere profession. Works will make faith perfect, because the believer will have his faith increased more by doing the will of God than by hearing only. This is a subject not understood by Christian believers. They suppose the “simple faith” they so often preach will save them ; but I tell you there is more for you to do than merely believing Christ to be the Son of God. He did not tell you to believe on Him, but to believe the works which He did; for in doing this you would have faith in Him by whom He was sent. He claimed the power to be of God, and told His disci- ples that God would give them the same power by doing as He told them, which was to heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, etc. This is what is now being done by mediums. They are con- scious the power does not belong to them, but that it comes from God through spirit influence, which Christ said should be the reward of faith in His word. They work, and faith follows, to all who will let the Master open their hearts. He is con- tinually knocking, but many are still in darkness, both in this and the spirit world. This is because their faith without works is dead. Manifest your faith by your works, and light from the spirit world will shine upon your pathway, and you will accept Christ as the world's Redeemer not by faith alone. Knowledge will be added to your faith, which Peter meant to teach by the ex- hortation, “add to your faith,” etc. Christ's messengers are continually telling of His mission. He that teaches any other doctrine than that Jesus is the Redeemer of the world, is not high enough in spirit life to see the light which beams from the realm of his Father's mansions. They can never see His salvation until by progressive work the darkness is dispelled º I66 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. by the spirit-chain of love which links them to Jesus Christ as the Mediator between them and their Father, God. Many refuse to visit mediums for want of faith in spirit com- munion. Thus the works of the mediums fail to convince thousands who would be Spiritualists if their works preceded their faith. Go to see these mediums, or send for them. You will never see or know without effort to make conditions such as are necessary to the acquisition of knowledge whereby your faith will be perfected. James was the embodiment of faith in good works. He knew the faithful Abraham was justified by works when he offered up Isaac. He knew Rahab was justified by works when she sent the men another way. Their faith would have been dead with- out the effort to perfect that faith. Christians, as you term them, preach about the exercise of saving faith. Faith comes from God to make us practice the teachings Christ gave when God sent Him into the world to make salvation perfect through suffering. You must suffer, or your faith will have no test. You must work, or your faith will be barren and unfruitful. By the deeds you do, you shall be judged in spirit-life. • In the final judgment Christ will say, not, what have you believed P but, what have you done P If your faith is manifested by your works, men and angels will know what your spirit-judgment will be. Prayer and holy living will make your works correspond, for a good tree will produce good fruit. This is in accordance with the laws which govern the nature of man, and many other things, in the natural world. When the spiritual organization is perfected, the faith of Spiritualists will be demonstrated by works from the spirit world. “Believe for the very works' sake,” said Jesus. Your ministers exhort you to have faith, but the mind is bewildered by such instructions. There is nothing tangible in such teach- ings. The power to believe comes from God, and He does not expect you to exercise a power He has not given you. This pow- er will come when you obey the instructions Christ gave. Obe- * FAITH AND WORKS. 167 dience comes first, then faith follows, as the reward of obedience. The lepers would never have been cleansed if they had simply listened to the command of Christ, no matter how much con- fidence they might have had in the virtue of the water and Christ's power to heal. You may say, “I have faith,” but you have not, unless you are willing to prove that assertion by tan- gible evidence. Men say many things, but their lives contra- dict their professions. This is not faith. It is a deception which they must rise above by doing the will of God. They have no right to assume that which God alone can and doés give. Let your faith be seen by works meet for repentance. Many came to John's baptism whom he called a generation of vipers, because they brought not the fruits of the faith they manifested by going. Curiosity, and not faith, prompted the act; hence he reproved them in the language above quoted. CHAPTER XIV. DEATH OR TRANSITION, AND WHAT FOLLOWS. WHAT is death? There are different answers given to this question. The law says it is “capital punishment.” The materialist says it is “annihilation.” Theology says it is the “wages of sin.” The Spiritualist says it is “a birth to a higher life.” And as it is as necessary for a natural birth in order to See and enjoy the natural world, so it is as necessary for there to be a spiritual world. Another pertinent question arises in the mind of the anxious inquirer after truth: Is there not underneath this change which we call death, some divine purpose outworking? Is not the gloom and sadness that usually attend this event the result of our former teaching, rather than the fact itself? Why do we fear death, and why is he called, in poetic language, the “king of terrors” P Because to the earthly mind, whose pursuits have been only of temporal things, an end of all sublunary pursuits, and the laying down and giving up all its pleasures; the leaving home and friends of earth, with all the familiar asso- ciations of life, and the entrance upon one far removed, of which we know little or nothing. The popular form of Christianity has impressed the minds of the people, to a large extent, with this idea. It points to- ward death as an ultinate when the spirit flies away to a para- dise of eternal happiness, or is borne down to everlasting misery. But is this true? The change in which is the de- struction of the physical body, with its gross elementary and (168) DEATH OR TRANSITION, AND WHAT FOLLOWS. 169 ever-changing forms of matter, is part of the great plan of creation. The body is simply the covering of the real indi- vidual, which has been gathered by the laws bf its being, that it might have a nature suited to the world in which it is to be. And what is called death is but the return of this matter to its original elements. Around this earth, and perhaps all worlds, there is a sphere of spirit-life into which all spirits mist enter when they come out of their chrysalis covering. It is called a sphere because it extends around the earth. If the earth-life of the spirit has been evil, undeveloped, aimless, wicked, it remains there until a higher and truer condition is induced. How long it may require to bring about a change will de- pend upon circumstances. Some may not improve their con- dition for a long time, while others may be aroused to a sense of their true condition, and aspire to higher and nobler pur- suits in a comparatively short space. .* The evil spirits cast out of persons possessed by, or obsessed with them, by Jesus, belonged to the class that hover near earth for the simple reason they have no qualification or fitness for any other place. Every human being goes to their own place as certainly as Judas did. We are making our own places through our nat- ural lives, and by the UNIVERSAL ETERNAL LAw we go to the place for which we are fitted. If the spirit is pure, having lived in harmony with the laws of his moral and spiritual nat- ure, he only passes through the first or second of these spheres to the place or sphere for which he is adapted. These states or spheres are as philosophical as they are scriptural. Those whose lives were devoted to deeds of kind- ness and love, to doing good to their fellow-man, will be ready to pass into the higher life, leaving those behind who have failed to meet the demands made upon them during their earth-life by their fellow-man. In this sphere will be found all classes, waiting for the law 8 17o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. of spiritual gravitation which will carry them to the condition of life for which their inner development has best fitted them. This view we conceive to be the only one that does justify the ways of God to man. These spheres are necessary in order that all may receive the reward of their doings, or to reap in spirit-life what they have sown in earth-life. From all that I can learn from those who have passed over, a very large portion of those who go even from the professed Christian country gravitate near the scenes of their former abode, for the obvious reason, that they have no qualification for any other place. The dead, then, are not far away, as we were taught in early life, and which we believed and taught for many years. * * I make the following extract from a lecture delivered through the mediumship of Mr. William Fletcher, of London : “Around this earth on which you live there is a sphere of spirit-life into which all spirits must enter. We call it a sphere because it extends around the entire earth. If the life of the spirit entering this state has been evil, undeveloped, aimless, the spirit remains there until a higher and truer condition within is induced; if pure and aspiring, the spirit enters it sim- ply to pass through it as a necessary pathway on its journey heavenward. “The earnest Catholic will tell you, as he stands beside the bedside of a friend and looks upon the eyes closed in death, that the spirit is on its way to a condition called “purgatorial,” and in this there is an element of truth. For the spirit is then awakening to an understanding of all the requirements of its life. “The day after death is a period neither of great happiness nor of great sorrow ; in it you enter not upon the far-away heaven, but upon the spiritual counterpart of the very world in which you live. For in that sphere of life the soul must pos- sess the same conditions in order to realize its powers and its possibilities. It must find exactly the same surroundings it has DEATH OR TRANSITION, AND WHAT FOLLOWS. 171 been familiar with in the world, in order to be able to develop from the conditions in which it is at first placed, and to under- stand the real effect that these have upon it. “You will find there, in this sphere of transition, those whose lives were spent in shame; those who never knew a thought of good or of truth, and those whose lives were passed in careless pleasure, and who were so full of thoughtless ease in the world of earth that they had no time to think of the spirit-world. You will find also those whose lives were devoted to deeds of kindness and love, to good work for their fellows, ready to pass into the higher life in which lesser and lower things shall be left behind. In this sphere will be found all classes and conditions, waiting for that law of spiritual gravitation to act which shall carry them to the condition of life for which their inner de- velopment has best fitted them. - “Where are the spirits of the dead? Are they far away? We answer, No—they are very near to you; certainly so, when they have only just passed through the crisis of change, and are probably still held to the old scenes and attractions of their earth-life. “What are they in that other life? How do they pass away ? Long before the spirit has absolutely left the body the ..change called death has begun. Over a dying person a little light is formed which gradually grows larger, and assumes at last the form of the spiritual body in which the soul is to live. St. Paul has said: ‘There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.' There are many who think they have died, and who, on awakening to consciousness in the physical life, say they have been far away, have seen brighter scenes and un- known realms, and talked with old friends. You fancy they have been dreaming, but it is not so. The spiritual body had so far formed that for the time it had left the natural body, and had been in connection with the spirit-world. But the attrac- tion of earth-life being stronger, and the magnetic link being unbroken, the spirit returned. It is when the attraction is 172 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. - strongest in the spiritual body that the spirit gradually changes place, and death implies simply the separation of the spirit from its mortal case. After death the spirit is not far away; for a long while it is closely connected with the physical body. Many times, when you are sorrowing over the dead body of a friend, the spirit is bending over you, trying to whisper words of comfort, and to throw its influence upon your heart. The more natural the earth-life has been, the more perfect and peaceful is the transition from this life to the other; the change called death is, then, the change of birth into the higher and better life. For the natural life is the only life pleasing in the sight of God. In the world to-day it is almost impossible to live naturally, because on the one side are ranged the laws of society, and on the other stands poor weak human nature. It is not that you do not know what it is right to do, but that society steps in with its influences, its tempta- tions, and you sacrifice what you think and know to be right in deference to the opinions of those who surround you.” HELL. Where are the so-called dead? This is a very grave ques- tion, one that should interest every thinking human being. The commonly received opinion that all are destined to go directly to heaven or hell, is one of the dogmas that is fast passing away. The founder of the largest Protestant Church says, “There is not the slightest foundation for such a belief in the oracles of God.” They go to their own place, for which their earth-life has fitted them. From all the information I have been able to gather from spirits themselves, I have long since come to the conclusion that the larger portion of those who pass away from mortal sight, remain on or near the earth for a long time. They have no qualification for any other place. They have consecrated their mind, heart, time, and talent to earthly things, hence they have no affinity for anything above that which is of earth. This was one of the first lessons that DEATH OR TRANSITION, AND WHAT Follows. 173 we were taught in our investigations here in 1855. All our subsequent teachings have but confirmed the same information. I never could understand the term “ouTER DARKNEss” so fully until I had heard those describe it who were groping their way amid its surroundings. We have had communications from a number of persons, some of whom we have known intimately, who were in the . Church, and some who were as far from it as any we have ever known. All concur that there is a fearful hell in the other life, but it is possible to be released therefrom. At one of our family seances, a man clad in tattered garments was seen and recognized by the medium. He had called at our house and received kindness, and had his wants supplied. He came back some time afterward drunk, and behaved very badly, and was repulsed. He controlled the medium's hand and wrote some months after this. I copy the communication, illustrative of the principle of reaping as we sow : “A stranger comes in your midst, only to ask forgiveness for one act and one expression from my lips. I was turned away, but you were not to be blamed, for my conduct deserved no better treatment. I was a beggar, but did not come with that humility and gratefulness of heart which became me. I was brought to want by the taking of the wine too freely. I spent my life in youth's wildest revelry and mirth. I shunned all from my presence who were members of temperance organi- zations, and was dissipated in the extreme. I was reduced to the last resort for my sustenance, and that was to beg; but, oh, my kind lady, I acted amiss. Will you forgive me P Say, oh, will you? And when a stranger knocks at your door and asks for bread, turn him not away. I come to tell you only of one instance—there are too many to mention. There is a mis- erable life for me. Still I beg you to forgive me and pray for me. Will you, kind lady ? A BEGGAR.” I asked him his name, and some remarks were made as to his antecedents, when he wrote again: "I 74 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “I am ashamed to acknowledge you are correct. My name you shall never know ; but will you do all you can to relieve poor, erring, sinful man P I have a sympathy for the thousands you have in your midst, and you can be very useful in this great work. I must acknowledge, my lady, there are many of this class undeserving, but you can not always know ; but if you can prevent it, never turn a beggar away empty. I must go, though I love this atmosphere I am in. It is a great change for me. I shall come again, though only as a looker-on.' I must do it, for I feel as though I can not go away to my abode of darkness. I must go. Pray for me; will you, happy mortals?” I will mention one other case through another medium, in my library. The following is from one whom we knew intimately, who passed away by a shot in a saloon : “I must write a few words if you are tired. I so much enjoy the help I can receive by coming here where kind and loving hearts dwell. Oh I the wretched state of a soul shut out from God, and away from every heart that beats in feelings of sym- pathy for ine. Oh the horrors of the damned, where every wicked deed, and sin of thought, word, and motive comes in dark array before the mind, and memory records these things in mortal life in letters that seem to burn with fire. These come back in spirit-life to torture a conscience already burn- ing with remorse. “Please excuse the horrible manner of my coming, but I can not come from the abode of darkness without bringing it with me. Good-night.” . . . . A number of tests were given of the identity of this spirit, of personal relations between us, of which the medium knew nothing. He ventured to our home circle first because of the sympathy he heard us express for him near his former residence. On one occasion he said, “I call you friend, though in our earth-life there was a gulf between us like that between the rich man and Lazarus.” DEATH OF TRANSITION, AND WHAT Follows. I75 He said, “I wronged you, but you forgave me,” and much that would not be best to publish. We merely give the above to illustrate an important truth relative to the other life as stated by spirits. One of the first who communicated through our “new medium” at our first developing circle, was of this class. We give his communication. At our next meeting he wrote a long article and controlled the medium to speak, giving an account of meeting his mother and of progressing onward with increas- ing light : “KIND STRANGER :—Pardon this intrusion. I have heard so much of you from others that I could not resist the desire of coming here, believing that you would pity and befriend me. I have sinned, and am now suffering; having hurled my own soul into eternity, believing that life ceased with death, and that I would thereby escape my earthly troubles, but on awak- ening to a realizing sense of my position, I found that I had been deceived—I still had an existence. My sufferings are terrible; imagination can not conceive the agony. I am forced to endure—agony which is denied even the consolation of human sympathy. “I know that my earthly record is closed, and that I can not now return to alter a single line ; but, is there no hope —must I endure this pain forever? I feel an inward burn- ing heat, as if a red-hot iron was plunged into my soul. I can even now, faint and far away, hear the voices of angels singing praises to God, and joyous birds warbling paeans of gladness, while I, deserted, friendless, and alone, am compelled by some unknown power to dwell in utter darkness. Tell me, kind sir, can not you aid me? These bright spirits present say you can and will. “Oh if I could only speak as I once spoke, I would repair the wrongs I have inflicted upon others, and wipe the tears I have caused to flow ; but that is impossible. I must suffer the consequences of my own hellish acts forever and ever, Pity 176 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. me—pray for me, and you will place an unfortunate one under obligations, not to be forgotten until I forget what gratitude is. “I drowned myself in a cistern at Calais, Vermont, on Wednesday, October 27th, 1875. “WILLIAM C. ROBINSON.” “You will find the information desired herein. I was a promi- nent citizen of the place named.” [In reply to doubts as to the correctness of statement]. “KIND SIR :—I wish you to write, by all means, and satisfy yourself that, although I have been unfortunate, and am classed here as one of the lowest of the low, I am, nevertheless, true and sincere in the sentiments expressed.” Indorsed by medium's spirit brother. “DR. —The representations of Mr. Robinson are correct. I satisfied myself of that fact before permitting him to communi- cate. He was very miserable, but now feels better. He says that the privilege of communicating has stimulated him with renewed energy, and that he is determined to press onward, onward. We could do nothing with him. If you could have only beheld him at the conclusion of the recital of his woes, you would feel that you were fully repaid for the kindness accorded him. WILLIAM.” -We wrote to the postmaster at Calais, making inquiries if such a man ever lived there and drowned himself in a cistern. The following is the answer: - “MONTPELIER, VT., Aug. 29, 1877. “SAMUEL WATson, Memphis, Tenn. : - “DEAR SIR:—In reply to your letter of inquiry, I would say there was a man named William C. Robinson, who lived in the town of Calais, Vt., and committed suicide by drowning in a cistern in October, 1875, These are the facts of the case. Shall I ask your reason for making inquiry P “Respectfully, “L, A. KENT, P. M., Calais, Vt.” DEATH OR TRANSITION, AND WHAT Follows. 177 Another case of a similar character of one whom I had known for many years. He occupied a prominent position in the country and was honored as a Senator in a State Legisla- ture. I withhold his name, but will make a short extract from what he wrote in regard to his condition : “I come to you to-night humble, oh, so humble. None of you here ever thought that (name given) could ever come craving your help. Oh, I am suffering, oh, so terribly, for some awful acts of my life. I have defrauded, cheated, and acted dishon- estly more than any one knows; and while regarded as being a gentleman, my heart was as black as hell. “I made a slave of my wife—treated my children like dogs, and now I am in utter darkness. “I have no words to express my terrible condition—none to thank for your kindness, and if you will permit me I shall come often, that by so doing I may lessen the gloom of my present condition. Because I failed to do the good I might have done I am suffering horrible tortures.” - The question as to the duration of the sufferings of the finally wicked is attracting much attention. Some of the first preach- ers in the pulpit have openly declared that they do not be- lieve in the everlasting misery of those who die in their sins. The secular papers have taken up the subject, giving their own opinions, as well as extracts from the utterances of learned di- vines. It is a matter of astonishment that the words which our translators render Hell, should ever have been understood to mean a place of everlasting misery. The Bishop of the M. E. Church, South, says in his sermon in the Methodist Pulpit South : “For the present hear Mr. Wesley. It is indeed very gener- ally supposed that the souls of good men, as soon as they are discharged from the body, go directly to heaven or hell, but this opinion has not the least foundation in the oracles of God. “The spirit-world receives all who depart—good, bad, small 8% 178 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. and great, old and young. The Hebrew original of the Old Testament calls it Sheol, which the Greek translation of the Septuagint renders Hades. The Greek original of the New Testament calls it Hades, which the Latin Vulgate renders Infernus. The English translation of the Old Testament, and of the New, sometimes renders it Hell, sometimes the grave. Here in Sheol-Hades the souls of all who die are received without respect to their goodness or badness, their happiness or misery. . . . . “Hades is not unfrequently used by the seventy, but it is common among classical authors; and in the judgment of the critic quoted, and others, it ought never in Scripture to be ren- dered Hell, at least in the sense wherein this word is now univer- sally understood among Christians. In translating the Hebrew word Sheol the seventy almost invariably used Hades; both meaning the state of the dead in general, the invisible, the hid- den, the veiled land.” In perfect harmony with this is the teaching of Spiritualism. The great gulf about which we have heard so much is that of condition. This exists in this, as well as in the spirit-world. The same law that exalts the pure and good will debase the vicious and the vile. Every one will gravitate to their “own place.” That place will be the one they have made for them- selves during their earth-life. º We once heard a preacher in the pulpit, within a short dis- tance from where we write, say that if a sinner were in heaven he would get away as soon as possible, and go to hell, because he would be happier there. The great law of affinity or same- ness will fix the abode of those in the spirit-world. Those who have lived here only on the animal plane, could not be happy with those whose intellectual and moral powers have been de- veloped. The great truth uttered by Jesus, that “whatsoever we sow that shall we also reap,” will be realized by all when they pass over to the real life beyond. There is no lake of fire anywhere in the universe in which sinners are to suffer endless DEATH OF TRANSITION, AND WHAT FOLLOWS. I 79 punishment, but there is a fearful hell to those whose lives have been spent in wickedness and crime. They have no moral fitness for any other place, and must go with those of a similar character, where there will be weeping and wailing over mis- spent lives. We have never felt the import of those words until we have heard it from those whose abode was in “outer darkness.” .It may not last forever, but in that condition they will continue until, as Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount, they have paid “the uttermost farthing.” The great law of recompense must be satisfied. Its demands are imperative, and must be rigidly enforced in this world, as well as in that which is to COIlle. In disobeying the law we sin against ourselves—not against God. Nor does He inflict punishment for sin arbitrarily, but sin is its own punisher; and the violated law is inexorable in its demands, which must be met by all accountable creatures, either in this or the eternal state. CHAPTER XV. DOES PROBATION TERMINATE WITH EARTH-LIFE P THIS is a question of vast importance. It is one about which Spiritualists do not differ, so far as we have been able to learn. Whilst they believe that wrong-doing must meet its just punishment in this or the other life, they also believe that ref. ormation and consequent elevation is the birth-right of all who pass to the spirit-world. We know this is heresy so far as the Protestant doctrine is concerned, but we say as another did, “If this be treason, I make the most of it.” It is truth which is eternal and must ultimately prevail. This is, as we think, clearly set forth by the teachings of Jesus as well as the nature of man and his relations. In the Sermon on the Mount, where the fundamental princi- ples upon which Christianity is based, are set forth by its Found- er, this doctrine is, we think, clearly taught where He speaks of paying “the utternmost farthing” before the guilty shall come out of prison. After His crucifixion He went and preached to those spirits in prison, as a celebrated Divine, preaching from that text in this city some years since, said He went to preach to them, for the same purpose that He had preached to sinners here. We do not propose to enter into this subject from a Biblical stand-point now, nor from a philosophical one, but to give some facts which have come under our observation for more than a score of years illustrative of this truth. I have given my views of this deeply interesting subject through the Religio-Philosophical Journal, I shall copy a part (180) DOES PROBATION TERMINATE witH EARTH-LIFE P 181 of them, though there is some repetition. I will give them as originally written, believing them to be true, and to be in har- mony with the character of the Author of our being. I shall give a number of communications from persons who have passed over the river of life. Some are terribly significant of the sufferings they are enduring as the result of their earth- life records. Others are sadly disappointed in regard to the spirit-world, in not meeting with what they have been taught to expect. Those who have lived in harmony with the laws of their being, realize more than they had ever conceived to be possible for them to enjoy in their bright abode in that beauti- ful world where no sickness, Sorrow, or death, can ever come. I have decided to give your readers my views of the “future state.” I am led to this decision by the fact that so many of my friends have, during the past few months, passed over, and have communicated with me freely in regard to their condition. Several preachers and prominent members of the Church are among the number. They find the spirit-world very different from what they taught, and believed it would be. They have found their position lower than they expected, because they made their calculations from their ignorance of God’s own re- quirements. They placed their hopes of being carried to heaven on “flowery beds of ease,” according to the popular teachings of the day, while God made them to “work out their own sal- vation,” by doing His will in their earth-life. Heaven is a moral condition, and not a material plane of worship around a throne, as we have often heard from the pulpit. God is spirit, and His creatures must be spiritual in their conceptions of Him. The Founder of Christianity in its purity taught that “the Kingdom of Heaven is within,” and does not consist in divers ordinances or ceremonial worship. The fountain must be pure in order for the stream to be pure. The tree must be good, to yield good fruit. The life must be in harmony with the laws of our being, in order to produce happiness in this or the fu- 182 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. ture state. The entrance into the spheres must be according to the laws of God, which are immutable and fixed. No spirits can change those laws, but by obedience to them, take high or low position, just as their obedience in a greater or less degree determines their “place” by their intellectual and moral de- velopment. When death comes in the order of law pertaining to matter, the spirit seeks its affinities—let them be in the dark abode of “outer darkness,” as the Scriptures term it, or in the spheres of light and love. Every spirit gravitates to the place for which he is fitted, in obedience to the universal law of his be- ing. Nothing prevents this association; nothing can change the nature of the spirit affinities but a progressive desire to go upward and onward. There are spiritual laws as well as material laws. The spirit- man is to spirit-laws, what the material man is to material laws. Eternal laws prevail throughout the universe of matter and spirit. They never have been, and never will be changed, because their Author is the same eternal and invariable source of essential law. There are but two departments of this law, spirit and matter. These embrace all that we can conceive of existence. We see the result of material law in our present state of existence. We shall see the effects of spiritual law when we enter our future state of being, as by it the state or con- dition of every human being will be determined on entering the spirit-world, by crossing the river of life. In this the em- bryonic state of our existence, we are forming our character, intellectually and morally, which fix our condition and sur- roundings in the other life. This is not by an arbitrary act of God, but is the inevitable result of the universal law of our being, and of all created intelligences. * What is to be our employment in the spirit-world P is an im- portant inquiry. The teachings we have had, that heaven is a walled city, with three gates on the four cardinal points for ad- mittance; that God is seated on “a great white throne,” and DoEs PROBATION TERMINATE witH EARTH-LIFE P 183 the saved spend their time in bowing in worship, adoration, and praise to Him who sits thereon, is too childish and absurd to deserve refutation in this connection. That there is worship “over there,” and that those who desire it will have meetings for spiritual development, we do not question ; but there will be also a great diversity of employments and enjoyments in the other life. All will be just as their capabilities deter- mine. It may be that there will be countless millions of sub- jective heavens and hells, each being in the very place and state for which best fitted by the earth-life. Eternal progres. sion is the law that governs in spirit-life. Effort, aspiration, and desire put in practice, must be brought to bear upon all before this work can be accomplished. Instruction, sympathy, and prayer, for those who are in outer darkness, will be the em- ployment of the pure and good, and this Christ-like work will be the most effectual way to develop themselves to a higher plane, demonstrating the truth taught by Jesus, that it is more blessed to give than to receive. We have in His history given us by the Evangelists, in the New Testament, the works He performed in His earth-life, go- ing about doing good to the souls and bodies of mankind, thus setting an exemplary example for us to follow. After His cru- cifixion, He “went and preached to the spirits in prison,” thus showing that probation did not terminate with our moral state of existence. We have here clearly established a fact which is ignored by the Protestant Churches, but recognized to some extent by the Roman Catholic Church, that reformation and consequent elevation was taught by the Founder of Chris- tianity. “Spirits in prison 1 '' who are they, and what are their sur- roundings P. These are questions of paramount importance to every one who desires to be informed in regard to the spirit- world. Our teachings for a quarter of a century have been, as we think, in harmony with His, whose birth the Christian world has fixed on the 25th of December. They are those who have 184 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM failed to live in harmony with the laws of their being. They have lived on the material plane, indulging their wicked pas- sions, controlled by selfishness, and have thus disqualified them- selves for association with any but those of a like disposition. These spirits are “driven away in their wickedness,” by the universal law, fixing the place according to the condition of every spirit. Their “prison” walls is the “outer darkness” that surrounds them wherever they roam. I have had a number of these who described their state as the most horrible, and their entreaties for us to pray for them have moved my sympathies as they have never been by the deepest distress I have ever witnessed on earth. Some who have been prominent mem- bers of the Church have besought us to pray for them. This we have done, and they profess to have been benefited by our intercessions for them. As Jesus not only went among publicans and sinners during His ministry here, but “descended into hell” to help these un- fortunate beings, so the good and pure will find that the most important duty and privilege that can be enjoyed in the spirit- world, will be to descend to the lower spheres, and aid in bring- ing up those who are in the depths of darkness. This Christ- like work will elevate themselves more rapidly than any em- ployment to be found in the spirit-world. God blesses those here who help others. The same law prevails over there. God carries on His work through agencies in the mortal and im- mortal, recognizing the common brotherhood of the whole hu- man family. We pass out of our present, and enter upon our future state, the same identical beings. Those who have labored for the good of their fellow-man here, will find it a congenial em- ployment to continue that work in the spheres. This I have had demonstrated for many years from those who have gone over, by communications I have received through mediums from them. They feel there, as here, a sympathy for their un- fortunate kindred, and visit their dark abodes to encourage DOES PROBATION TERMINATE witH EARTH-LIFE P 185 and stimulate them to aspirations upward, and when success at- tends their efforts, they rejoice that another soul has been re- deemed from the dark regions of despair, and made capable of appreciating that purity which constitutes the requisite qualifi- cation for the enjoyment of the upper spheres. I am fully aware that the thoughts I have hastily penned will be branded as heresy by my old associates in the ministry. My reply to all such is what Paul said on a certain occasion : “After the manner which ye call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers.” I can not worship any other being than one of whom it is said in the Bible : “His tender mercies are over all His works” and “is not willing that any should perish.” These are the teachings of Spiritualism, so far as I have been able to learn them in all my investigations. They are the teachings of the Founder of Christianity, as I understand them. They were the teachings of the Church in its primitive purity, and I believe will be found, in the near future, to be the only teachings upon which there can be built a Church with a sure foundation; in a word, it is the only system that does fully justify the ways of God to man. He makes no man happy or miserable in this world or the next, but in obedience to His uni- versal law, which governs all created intelligences. In this and all other worlds He makes every one as happy as his nature will permit, and punishes only to reclaim the disobedient, as loving parents do their affectionate children. I recognize no human authority upon this and kindred sub- jects. The highest human authority which I do recognize, is enlightened reason and common-sense. Authority has been combating these, and in the past has, to some extent, been vic- torious ; but these God-given faculties are now triumphing over the mandates of “our standards” in religion. The great fun- damental principle taught in the Scriptures, is that each one will receive according to the deeds done in the body, the re- ward of his doings. I ask in all candor, can any rational, un- prejudiced mind believe that a being “whose tender mercies I86 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. are over all his works,” can punish forever an erring mortal for the sins of a few years, living in accordance with the depravity inherited from his federal head and representative P I envy neither the head nor the heart of such. The sins of a brief life here can not, upon any principle of justice with which we are acquainted, receive an eternity of punishment. It is unreason- able as well as unscriptural, and I hesitate not to say that I could not worship such a being, nor would such a being be worthy of the homage of his creatures. God does not punish any one. He has established immutable, eternal laws, which exist, like Himself, everywhere. Obedience to those laws will insure happiness in this life, and in the future state. Violating these laws will, of necessity, bring suffering here and in the hereafter. The object of punishment is not vindictive or arbi- trary, but reformatory. Those who have lived only upon the animal plane, and have been governed by their evil natures, have no moral qualification for pure spiritual associations— hence they are “driven away in their wickedness,” with those of like natures. There are immutable and eternal principles of right and wrong. The laws of God are unchangeable, and are the same in this and in all worlds. Virtue and happiness are inseparably united; vice and misery can never be separated. There is what is called in moral philosophy, the laws of sequence, that certain results must necessarily follow certain courses of conduct. These laws of sequence are as immutable as any natural law. Heaven and hell begin in this world, and are made by the formation of the character in this life—hence the truth expressed by inspiration, that “he that doeth wrong, shall receive for the wrong he hath done.” Every wrong act unatoned for in this life is engraven upon the aura which surrounds the wrong–doer and forms the walls of the prison of “outer darkness,” in the spirit-world in which he is encased. It is thus each one makes his own record, keeps his own book of life. Though no human eye may see the evil deeds, yet when the time comes of which Jesus speaks, where He says DOES PROBATION TERMINATE witH EARTH-LIFE P 187 there is nothing hid that shall not be revealed, there is nothing concealed that shall not be made manifest, then all will appear in their true character. The great question is, Will this punishment be eternal P I can not believe it, for many reasons. The great principle rec- ognized as part of our nature, is the freedom of the will, which can not be affected by the change we call death. It is not the material part of our nature that possesses this power, which makes man a moral agent, but the real being who passes out of the natural into the spiritual world, possessing all the faculties unimpaired. Man is a probationer here, and I see nothing in his intellectual, moral, or spiritual nature, in the change of worlds, to destroy that important feature of his character. As to a literal lake of fire as a place of punish- ment into which human souls are plunged to burn forever, I can not nor would I believe. The very thought is abhorrent in connection with future punishment. These terrible ideas of hell that have come down to us from the centuries past through such writers as Dante, Milton, and Pollok, have made more infidels than the Humes, Voltaires, and Volneys. Such awful pictures of hell as have been heard from Christian pulpits, are enough to negate the ideas of God from the minds of reflective II] en. & That a God of love could so torment His creatures, will not be entertained by any one who has a correct idea of the char- acter of our heavenly Father, “who is not willing that any should perish;” such preaching has had its day and will live, I think, only in the history of the past ages. There is no punishment inflicted by God's law that is wrathful or vindic- tive, but reformatory in its design and tendency. Such teach- ings will either disgust sensible men with the idea of religion, or drive them into infidelity. There must be some respect paid to what is reasonable and right, even in regard to the future punishment of the “incorrigible sinner.” He is human still and claims a common brotherhood of humanity. He will, as we be- I88 "THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. lieve, ultimately pay the debt he has incurred in this, his infant state of being, he having received “the measure he has meted to others” by its “being measured to him again,” and “paid the very last mite,” as Jesus expresses it. His prison walls of darkness will be broken through the agency of good spirits, who, like Jesus, go and minister to those thus confined in prison, and accompany them to the realms of light, where loved ones will meet and rejoice over their deliverance from spiritual bondage. CHAPTER XVI. f THE RE SU R RECTION. THE teaching of the resurrection of the body from the grave has been one of the greatest obstructions to Christianity among thinkers. Its belief we think is rapidly disappearing among our preachers of advanced views. We propose to devote one chapter to this important subject, and shall use some of the matter I wrote for the R. P. Journal and other periodicals on the subject. We shall give an extract from the founder of Methodism and some of his followers. It is now almost universally conceded, in the Church as well as out of it, by thinkers, that PROGRESSION is a UNIVERSAL LAw. This tends to higher life and involves the death of the natural body. It having accomplished its mission, ceases to exist in an organized form ; and Paul, speaking of its dis- solution, says, “The time of my departure is at hand.” This earthly life is but the nursery in which God prepares His plants for the higher state of spiritual existence. It is the Divine ordination. There is not a seed but what hath its covering—it goes on ripening, after which it throws off that covering. Nature teaches us some important lessons, for nature is God's handiwork, and must be in harmony with universal law, by which He governs all things. Our natural body is our covering in this our infantile state of being. We see only his dwelling-place, which is of the earth. When he is matured or ripened to carry out the figure, he leaves the body, by buisting like the shell or sheath the ripe seed, and the real man finds a world and home congenial to his nature. (189) 190 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. If he has lived according to God's laws, he will then enter into the fullness of God's blessings. The resurrection is not a change that has to be waited for during thousands of years. Sleep in the grave but immediately follows what is called death. He rises to his place, for which he has been fitted by his intel- lectual and moral development while in his natural body. Each one gravitates, by the immutable law of God, to his own place in a spiritual body adapted to the world of spirit, into which he enters with the same faculties he possessed in his natural body, refined and intensified. He no longer sees “through a glass darkly,” as Paul says of the present state, but face to face he beholds the inhabitants of this real world, each showing by the aura that surrounds them, their own true character. Inasmuch as the earthly body is fitted for this world, and not adapted to the spirit-world, it is left behind, or, as Mr. Wesley says, “which it wholly puts off at the grave.” This is the invariable testimony we have received from those who have passed over—some of which I expect to give in another place. This theory of the resurrection of the natural body, like some other dogmas, has crept into and been assumed as part of the Christian doctrine for a while, but afterward the advance of intelligence and science has shown them to be errors, and consequently have been rejected. The advance of science has shown that this is a doctrine that involves the most serious and perplexing difficulties, which we have neither time nor space to notice. Suffice it to say, that there is not a single text, from the first of Genesis to the last of Revelation, which says that either the earthly body shall rise again, the material body or the natural body shall rise, or any words from which such inference can be legitimately drawn. The Scriptures teach that the man will rise, the dead will rise, but never the dead body will rise—but, on the contrary, they teach the reverse. Take the ninth verse of the seventh chapter of Job: “As the ; : THE RESURRECTION. I91 cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.” * Paul speaking on this subject, says, I Cor. xv. 4o, “There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial. . . . So also is the resurrection of the dead.” “There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” It is thus this eminent apostle treats the resurrection. He seems to think it is a very foolish thing to ask a question that nature answers in the germination or re- creation of itself. He says the body sown is not the body raised, but a celestial body. The earthly body is the one given in our first stage of life. When it has done its work and accomplished its purpose, it decays, putrifies, and mingles with the elements around; but, from within the real man, a spiritual body ascends. This spiritual body is being formed with the natural body during the earth-life. It is “the inner man,” of which Paul speaks in another place, when he says, “The outward man per- ished—the inner man is renewed.” A pure, good man has a beautiful, white, spiritual body, of which it is said they shall shine as the sun. A bad man is gradually forming within him- self an ugly spirit—black and malignant. We can not see it as it is now, covered with the earthly clothing; but when it throws this off at what is called death, the mask is thrown off; then what was said by Moses, “Be sure your sins will find you out,” will be realized by all who enter the spirit-world with selfish, wicked, devilish natures that they have manifested in their earth-life. We are all writing our own history—forming our own charac- ters, which will constitute our personal identity. We are our own “bookkeepers”—making our own records, which we shall meet on the other side. Every bad principle inculcated deep- ens and strengthens, producing its impressions upon the spirit. Every cunning malignity that a man cherishes and acts upon gives its expressions upon his soul, and injures him before it does anybody any harm. This is “the book of life” we are I 92 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. writing every day, either making it of the holy pages of life, and love, or defiling its pages with falsehood, malignity, and wickedness. Then shall be realized the awful import of the declaration of Jesus, that there is nothing hid or concealed that shall not be revealed. It is a most solemn truth, that should be engraven upon the tablet of our minds, never to be forgotten or disregarded, that no viciousness can we cherish, no wickedness can we love, without its doing its mischief within our souls. We can not afford to do wrong, for Jesus says, “He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong he hath done.” The formation of the spiritual character is no transitory matter. It is the proper business of our lives. It is with reference to this that the book says some shall come forth to the resurrection of life, and others to the resurrection of damnation (condemnation). The spiritual world is only discernible and tangible to a spiritual body, where its true status is seen and known by the inhabitants of that world. These worlds are very close to- gether—only a veil separates them. Mr. Wesley, who in his comment upon the declaration of Paul, where he speaks of “soul, body, and spirit” as a trinity, says: “Is not the body that portion of organized matter which every man receives in the womb—with which he is born into the world, and which he carries with him to the grave? At present it is connected with flesh and blood, but these are not the body—they are only the temporary clothing, which it wholly puts off at the grave. “The soul seems to be the immediate clothing of the spirit, the vehicle with which it is connected from its first existence, and which is never separated from it either in life or in death. Probably it consists of ethereal or electric, the purest of all mat- ter. It does not seem to be affected by the death of the body, but envelopes the separate as it does the embodied spirit.” Now, all this is in perfect harmony with modern Spiritualism, THE RESURRECTION. I93 though written more than a century since by a remarkable man who was far in advance of his age. What was known of elec- tricity in Mr. Wesley's age P And yet it is the best natural agent to convey a correct idea of the spiritual body, which, like its type, can pass unobstructed through matter, and though not omnipresent, can pass like it through space with almost incon- ceivable velocity. Well might the Psalmist say we are won- derfully made. Here is clear demonstration of all that Paul designed, as I conceive, to teach of the resurrection. This spiritual body is the real man. The natural body is “the temporary clothing, which it wholly puts off at the grave.” When does the resurrection of the body occur P and what body is the resurrection body of which Jesus and Paul speak P That “there is,” as Paul says, “a natural body and a spiritual body,” no one can question who believes the New Testament or has any correct knowledge of the complex nature of the be- ing made in the image of God. The spiritual body is the real being, that has gathered around it, so to speak, by natural laws, a material structure, constituting its outer covering, which is constantly changing. What is termed death is nothing but the throwing off of this material form, which returns to its original elements, from which it has been taken. This is a simple, natural process, which is in perfect harmony with the manner in which God or nature works. The material came from and is adapted to its earthly mode of existence, and to no other state of being. Man's final des- tiny we know is not in the natural world. His material facul- ties in the course of nature wear out—“the dust must return to the dust as it was, but the spirit to God, who gave it.” It has accomplished its purpose in its conception, growth, ma- turity, and decay is inevitable. He then enters upon a new life—a spiritual life, in a spiritual world, and with spiritual sur- roundings, as real, and more so, than the earth-life through which he has passed. 9 I94 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Of what use can there be of a natural body in a spiritual world P. We answer, none. Nor, can we believe that the writers of the New Testament designed to teach that the spirit should ever enter the material body, however refined or changed the old theory of resurrection may require to fit it for the spiritual world in which it is to live and develop forever. But to the law and the testimony. Jesus and Paul are the only ones who give us ideas on this momentous question. When the materialists of Judea proposed the difficulty of the marriage relation in the resurrection to Jesus, He said, “For when they shall rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels which are in heaven” (Mark xii. 25). Observe the present tense used in regard to those of whom He speaks as well as the angels, verse 26— “And as touching the dead that rise; have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob P” Observe the same tense continued—“the dead that they rise,” not that they will rise at some future time. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were already subjects of the resur- rection of which He is speaking. 27—“He is not the God of the dead,” (for there are no dead), “but the God of the living; yet therefore do greatly err” who are expecting a resur- rection of the natural body in the coming future. Again, at the transfiguration of Jesus, “And behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias.” Moses was not permitted to go over into Canaan, but his body was buried on the other side of Jordan, and Elijah went up, we know not where, according to the history. Peter, James, and John “saw the two men that stood with him.” They were there in their spiritual bodies, seen and recognized, as many are being seen and recognized, by thousands of living witnesses all over the world at the present time. The resurrected body of Jesus was the type of ours, in His appearing first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast THE RESURRECTION. IQ5 seven devils. After that He appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. “But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him.” Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted.” Thomas said on another occasion, “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days again His disciples went within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst of them, and said, “Peace be unto you.” Then said He to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.” On another occasion he met with Peter and others at the “Sea of Tiberias,” where they were fishing, and “Jesus said unto them, Come and dine.” We have quoted the passage from the Evangelists to show that the resurrected body of Jesus was a real, tangible body, whenever He desired it, and that He came to them when the doors were shut, and vanished out of sight when He sat with them at meat. It is distinctly declared that our body in the resurrection shall be like His. It is a clearly demonstrated fact that every characteristic which He manifested after His resur- rection is possessed now by the materialized spirits that are seen all over the world. And that when they appear their bodies are a counterpart of that which they formerly occupied. This is as necessary for their identification as it was to convince Thomas for Jesus to show the prints of the nails in His hands and the spear in His side. - The disciples were not developed far enough to comprehend that the body their Master appeared to them in was material- ized for a purpose. They doubtless believed it to be the identical body which had been deposited in Joseph's tomb. 196 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. There has been a great diversity of opinion in the Church as to the nature of the risen body of Jesus. For many years while a member of the Book Committee of the Southern Methodist Publishing House, at Nashville, we met annually with the bishops. At one of our meetings, while dining with a wealthy member of the committee, the question as to the kind of a body Jesus had after His resurrection, was discussed freely. We found there was quite a difference of opinion among the bishops in regard to the nature of the risen body of Jesus. Had we been as well posted then as now, we should have given our opinion that it was just such a body as we have been seeing for several years. We are forced to the conclusion by all the investigation we are capable of giving this subject, that the resurrection occurs at the going out of the spiritual from the natural body. Let us now see what Paul says about it: “But some men will say, ‘How are the dead raised up and with what body do they come P’ Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quick- ened except it die; and that which thou sowest, not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or some other grain ; but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body.” Observe, Paul calls the man a fool who would ask the ques- tion, “How are the dead raised up P” The whole vegetable kingdom teaches you this lesson. You sow the seed; it dies, and then comes up the body that shall be. The seed does not lie in the ground for years before it germinates. Nor does the spiritual part which God gave to man wait for the coming ages to arise from the natural body with which it has been identified. “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. The one is of the earth, earthy, the other was breathed into man by his Creator when he became a living soul.” Solomon, speak- ing of the dissolution of the body, says, “Then shall dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit return to God, who gave it.” * z THE RESURRECTION. I97 There are insurmountable difficulties to be overcome in be- lieving in the literal resurrection of the natural body. We be- lieve it is not only unphilosophical, but unscriptural, having no foundation in the teachings of Jesus or the apostles. It is a weight the Church has had to carry, which they should throw off, and take a more natural, reasonable, and scriptural view of the whole subject, as taught in the Bible. The doctrine of a literal, eternal fire for the punishment of the wicked, and the preservation of the particles of matter of which the natural body is composed, and reunion with the soul at the last day, have made more infidels than all the Humes, Volneys, Voltaires, and Paines who have ever written. The world demands a reasonable religion, and will be satisfied with no other. The sooner this is learned and taught, the better it will be for humanity. There are some ministers we know who have already discarded the old theory of the resurrection, as well as some other dogmas that have impeded the spread of truth among thinking people. Ilet them “lay aside every weight,” and present the teachings of Jesus, and the definition of true religion as given by Jesus as the sum and substance of the Gospel, which is indeed glad tidings of great joy to all peo- ple, which all may receive and rejoice in the hope of a blissful innmortality. I make the following extract from a sermon preached in Nashville, Tennessee, and published in pamphlet form, by Rev. Dr. D. C. Kelly. He is one of the most prominent ministers in the M. E. Church South. His father was a member of the Tennessee Conference for many years, and his son a mission- ary, to China for a considerable time. He has always been, and now is, appointed to the most important work in the Church. Though he may not avow “any theory of our own,” yet the reader will clearly see his views are in harmony with ours on the resurrection question : “Let it be remembered in the outset, that the popular theories of the resurrection result from opinions formed at a 198 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. time when the men who gave birth to them were in almost total ignorance of their own physical constitution. The circulation of the blood, the processes of digestion, assimilation, and ex- cretion which are now known to be in unceasing action in every living man, were unknown. In this state of ignorance, personal identity was supposed in some way to be inseparably connected with physical identity. Now, we know that through processes of assimilation and excretion every particle of the matter which makes the man of to-day may disappear from his frame, and their places be supplied with other particles, and yet the identity of person be fully maintained. We now know that in the elemen- tary substances which compose our body we have nothing which is not common to nature all around us. Ilater discoveries tell us that these elements are not only ours, in common with our earth, but a common property of the worlds which flame around us. It can not be wondered, then, that intelligent men of to- day ask, Why hunt up the very particles of matter which went into the grave P “We do not pause at the Old Testament. Jesus declares Himself the “resurrection and the life;” so we shall expect to find this doctrine in the New Testament, in its fullest light. We are the better satisfied to do this, since many able theologians deny that the doctrine of the resurrection is anywhere to be found plainly stated in the Old Testament. “We come to this examination of Scripture without any theory of our own to support. We shall look to the Script- ure without bias, and we only suggest expositions in a tenta- tive form. “Matt. xxii. 29–32 : “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob P. God THE RESURRECTVON. I99 is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Either Jesus holds in this passage that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had al- ready acquired their resurrection bodies, or else He holds that they were living a resurrection life, without bodies. Taking the text in its own light, without any attempt to fit it into a theory, it is incapable of any other construction. To say, as has often been done, that Jesus meant to answer an opinion of the Sadducees, not expressed in their question, is gratuitous, and wanting in proper candor. Jesus was speaking for the ages, and answered the question, not for His hearers alone, but for all time. “As yet we have found no explicit teaching which looks to the assignment of a Christian believer to a necessary and un- avoidable waiting for a distant and future resurrection. As yet we have found only a personal resurrection of the dead, or from the dead; no intimation that to make that personal identity complete there must be a waiting for a process of some kind to take place after death in the grave. There is no intimation of a break in the personal entirety. “Before taking up the texts which deal directly with the body, let my thoughtful hearer pause for a moment and make up his mind as to what it is that makes up our autonomy, or selfhood. Is this selfhood divisible P Can the individual man be in two places at once P When we find Christ saying to the thief on the cross, ‘To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise,’ when the history tells us that the dead body of Christ was that day in the grave, have we not Christ's declaration that He did not regard His selfhood or that of the thief as being with the body in the grave P When we remember that this same Jesus had told the Sadducees that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were in the resurrection life, though their bodies were yet in the grave, we may find it very necessary to broaden our view of the resurrection, no longer contemplating the grave-body as the great idea in that life, especially when we find that the resurrec- tion of the body is not a scriptural phrase ; when, therefore, 2OO THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the resurrection of the dead is referred to, is the thought in the mind of the spirit, the selfhood, the person, or is it the dead corpse P Does selfhood, does personality, attach to the corpse P Then were there two Christs or two thieves that day ? Can I both be in a grave and in heaven P When a fact is uttered of you, therefore, are you to expect it to apply to your self- hood or to your corpse P So much by way of simple, honest work, in clearing the ground for the earnest seeker after truth. “When Paul attempts to explain the connection between the two, he takes an illustration from a grain sown. If we follow this illustration literally, we find no intervening time between the death of the grain and the life of the resultant body. The grain is sown ; the surrounding pulp begins to die—i.e., to dis- solve, to separate into its original elements. The new body begins to form—it has not in it a single particle of the matter which was in the grain in the form in which it existed in the grain; it takes from the grain, during the life of the grain, all that it is ever to receive from the grain. If the grain should actually die but one moment before the new body has acquired its own life, that resultant body can never come into existence. “If this simple and natural view of the illustration given by the apostle be correct, we have not yet found Scripture author- ity for an intervening disembodied existence for the saints be- tween death and the resurrection. “Will you divest your minds for one moment of the shackles of traditionalism, and give your earnest, unbiased thought to the only passage of Scripture which attempts to answer the ques- tion, ‘With what body do they come P’ Hear Paul reply, I Cor. xv. 37: ‘Thou sowest not that body that shall be.’ He declares this in words, and then proceeds to illustrate his dec- laration in a way that every physiologist knows leaves no room for doubt. The body which is sown reappears not in itself, but in a body which is identical in kind. The grain of wheat does not reappear in a single atom of its matter; neither is the resultant body barley or rye, but wheat. The illustration, if it THE RESURRECTION. 2O1 teach anything on this point, is positive that the risen body does not receive from the grave a particle of the matter that enters there; yet that it does retain not only the specific at- tributes of humanity (it is not brute or angel), but it retains also the individuality of the person, and that it is not a natural, but a spiritual body, but none the less a body. To find the body which results from the sown grain of wheat, you do not go to the place where it was sown, but to the garner into which it has been gathered. They are with Christ, they come with Him. With what body do they come P With a body such as God pleaseth, and yet a body which is individually their own, both as it stands related to the present and the past—a spirit- ual body.” Let us now see what the New Testament says in regard to this profoundly interesting subject. First hear what Jesus says respecting it : “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto Him” (Luke xx. 37, 38). This magnificent statement declares several things. I. That, as seen by the Lord, there is no such a thing as a dead man ; or that the death of the body is not the decease of the man. 2. That the dead are raised ; not that they shall be or may hope to be raised, but that the resurrection of the dead is a fact now taking place—the raising of the man from the dead body. 3. That this resurrection was taking place in the days of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, for they had been “raised.” 4. That Moses was, to some extent, conscious of the certainty of this fact. 5. That the apparently simple expression of God being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is at the same time a divinely-given testimony to the fact of their continued existence, and a prophetic declaration that the “heirs to the promises” shall in like manner be raised, when it shall please - the Divine Wisdom to call them home to Himself. :}; 9 2O2 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Some of those thus raised are spoken of by the apostle as “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. xii. 23). Now, if they were already perfect, it must be folly to presume that they are enjoying only a moiety of existence, pining in longing anticipation for a reunion with their to-be-resuscitated material bodies, which in their old earthly state they rejoiced to cast away. The term resurrection, or “rising again,” no more implies the resuscitation of the dead body than does “being born again” imply the re-entrance into the world through the womb of the mother. Nicodemus misunderstood the one, and many persons appear only able to misunderstand the other expres- sion. Man rises from the dead; it is only the body that is dead; and resurrection, therefore, is man's rising from the dead body. This view of the resurrection renders it universal, immediate, and certain. It abolishes the intellectual nightmare of a mid- dle condition of disembodiment; it strips death of all the dark imaginations with which it has been invested; as the Scriptures teach us, “it abolishes death,” for “death "is swallowed up in victory;” and through the Gospel “life and immortality are brought to light.” The babe born this morning has entered upon a life which can never be destroyed. God has formed it so far in His image as to have endowed it henceforth with the attribute of eternal being. Its existence for weal or woe is now an unalterable fact ; it is now a pillar that can never be thrown down ; a flame that can never be extinguished. Mutations may, and must pass over it, in the career of its pilgrimage be- low ; the great mutation of physical death must be endured at the end thereof; but the being still lives on, and will live on forever, an identity never to be merged into that of any other being, and a consciousness that shall never be lost. The Scripture warrants the belief that spirits are substantial men, not composed of earthly, but of spiritual and never-dying substance ; and the apostle has de oted a large portion of his THE RESURRECTION. . 2O3 First Epistle to the Corinthians to elucidate this subject. In it he declares, “There is a natural body, and there is a spirit- ual body” (I Cor. xv. 35–50); and further asserts that “the natural body is sown, and the spiritual body rises.” He very felicitously compares the sowing, death, and rising of man, to the sowing, death, and germination of grain. This comparison is so complete that it deserves minute consideration. The apostle makes use of three terms in relation to both man and grain ; and to fix the analogy it will be necessary to determine the resemblance of each term. We begin with the middle phrase. The death of the grain symbolizes the death of man. Both must die before they can rise. But sowing, the first term, must take place before the death of either. This shows that the sowing of the grain can not be analogous to the burial of man's dead body; and this for several reasons; first, the man is not present in the body when that is interred—we inter it only because he is no longer there; and secondly, the sowing takes place before death, according to the apostle, whereas in- terment does not take place till after death. A further reason why the apostle can not have designed to compare the sowing the grain to the interment of the dead body, is that many dead bodies are not interred at all. And a still further reason is, that the third term of the comparison will be altogether frus- trated by the assignment of such an interpretation to the first. What portion of man's history is it then, we ask, which is analogous to the sowing of the grain P. The apostle is speak- ing of man's being sown, not of any sowing of man's body. We answer, man is sown into the world when he is born into the world, just as the grain is sown into the earth when placed there. The man is sown by birth into the world in order that he may die, just as the grain is sown into the earth, its world, in order that it may die. The whole of the description is strik- ingly apposite to this interpretation. In a far higher than a mere gross, material sense, man is sown in “corruption, dis- honor, weakness,” when, as a natural body, he enters by birth 204 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. into the world. The “Sowing” is the beginning of man's earth. life, or life on the earth; and the hereditary propensities to evil, the lusts of sense, and the frivolities of time, render it far too Often and too much a whole scene of corruption, dishonor, and weakness. Man's death is compared to the death of the grain. This comparison is exactly accurate. In the grain it is only the husk that dies. With the man it is only the husk—the natural body, the physical envelope—that dies. When the husk of the grain dies, the germ of new life has sprouted forth ; and when the physical envelope of the man dies, the spiritual being is released from it and ascends. It is necessary that the grain should be sown that it may die, and it is necessary that it should be both sown and die that the germ of new life may ascend in- to the bright light and warm sunshine above its earthly resting- place. And, in like manner, man must be born that he may die, and both be born and die in order that he may rise a spir- itual, immortal being. The providential purpose in the im- plantation of the germ of life within the grain was, that by dy- ing a more munificent life might be developed ; and the great design in the birth of man was, that by dying, a nobler exist- ence might be attained. The enlarged multiplication of the species, as the result of the death of the grain, is the symbol of the enhanced development of the powers and privileges, the gifts and the glory of human existence, to be realized in the other life. The third term requires consideration. Not only are they alike sown and do they die alike, but there is a further resem- blance in the quickening of the man and the germination of the grain. The dead husk and starchy substance of the grain do not rise; but the living germ, from the husk, the living prin- ciple, from the body of the seed. So, in like manner, man’s spirit rises from the dead body; its ascent from the body is the cause and sign of death. The dead husk wastes away in the soil, and the dead body molders back to dust. The life-germ THE RESURRECTION. 2O5 in both cases has no further need of the outer envelope it wore, and can put it to no further use. Without it, both the sprout- ing stem of wheat and the risen spirit of man are more glorious things than they were before. Sometimes the comparison of the apostle is regarded as illustrating a fancied resurrection of the dead body , but this view is evidently wrong. It illustrates most felicitously the resurrection of the living man from the dead body; but to attempt to interpret it otherwise renders the comparison singu- Tarly inapt. The germination of a seed is not the resuscitation of the dead husk, the covering of the germ ; and the resurrec- tion of the man is not any resuscitation of the body. The germination of the grain is the bursting up of its inner living principle into a more beautiful and a new form of existence; and the resurrection of the man is the rising up of his living principle—his spirit—into a new and grander existence. Con- sequently, the apostle has been really treating of the resurrec- . tion of the man from the dead body, not of the resuscitation of the dead body itself. The impersonal pronoun “it,” used in our translation of the passage (I Cor. xv. 42–44), is not used or implied in the Greek. The man has been clothed with a mortal, a natural body, “the earthly house of this taber- nacle,” and the man is raised an “incorruptible, immortal, spir- itual body,” or has put on “the house not made with hands, the building of God, eternal in the heavens.” * Addressing some who believed in the old Hebrew and Egyptian idea of the resurrection of the dead body, the apos- tle declares in the same chapter, “Thou fool; that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body that shall be" (I Cor. xv. 36, 37); for, as he asserts again, “Flesh and blood can not in- herit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit in- corruption" (ver. 50); or, as he more emphatically expresses it, “the natural body is sown, and the spiritual body is raised" (ver. 44). He no more means that the dead natural body shall at some future day be sublimated and transformed into a spir- 2O6 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. itual body, than he intends to teach that the dead husk of the grain shall be transformed into the living plant. That is dead and done with, and dead because done with ; and up from the dead husk or body the living principle rises. The birth, death, and resurrection of the man, and the sowing, death, and germi- nation of the grain, are thus mutually representative ; and the comparison of the apostle is justified and borne out even into details. In both, death is, therefore, the gate of life. Or more properly speaking, there is no death as it is taught by theology. The poet may sing he is the king of terrors. The philosophet, in prying into those mysterious laws of the origin of life and its continuance by the appropriation of matter, may say it is the cessation of life. We ask now, What is death 2 but the echo comes from the spirit-world and reverberates all through earth's domain, that there is no death. It finds the body feeble and worn out ; crippling the young limbs of the soul ; fettering its higher soarings: blinding the soul's eager sight; benumbing the stretched ears that strive to catch the inner harmonies of creation. It bursts the bars of the prison —throws down the doors that the “inner man” may ascend. The body is as the chrysalis concealed in the grub. It rends the pupa case that the psyche may come forth. It is the pulling down of the scaffolding that the building may be discovered. It is as warder opening the gates of mortality to immortality, introducing men to the sublimest associations of the heavenly assembly; our guide over the slender bridge that spans the gulf between this life and the next; the great revealer, lifting the dark screen that has long concealed what we have so long and so eagerly desired to behold. It is the drawing aside the veil which separates the visible from the invisible world. It is the opening of the spirit eyes and ears to see and converse with the loved ones who wait to welcome us to homes prepared for us in the better land—the mansions in our Father's House. This view of the resurrection obviates the many objections that are made to the old theory by Scientists, and removes one of the THE RESURRECTION, 207 most serious difficulties in the way of skepticism to Christianity. The primitive Church entertained more correct views of this subject than it now teaches. When visiting the catacombs of ancient Rome, we could see their sentiments by the inscriptions on their tombs : “Born"—at such a time. “Born to a higher life”—at another. This second birth, or continuation of life, is what is meant in the Scriptures, we think, by the term RESURRECTION. After we had finished our chapter on the resurrection, a vol- ume, entitled “Beyond the Grave,” by Bishop Randolph S. Foster, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was published. We procured a copy, and read it with much interest. He takes about the same view of the Resurrection that Dr. Kelly does. He says “that Moses and Elias were in the resurrection state, wearing their immortal bodies.” Again, pages 18.1–2 : “To the view of the Resurrection here presented there can be no objection. It is in the line of Divine analogies. It is free from grotesque and offensive implications. It is reasona- ble. It harmonizes with Scripture statements. It meets all the demands of the affections. It is sublime ! It is in ac- cord with a plan of progressive glory, according to the Pauline idea. “The resurrection state is the culmination of glorified hu- manity—is the change of the earthly for the heavenly—is the putting off the flesh and blood, and the putting on of the spir- itual body. The resurrection is the standing again after death; the body of the resurrection is the body with which the spirit is clothed for its celestial life. The organizing life-principle is un- interrupted and identical; it begins in the natural, and weaves its curious integuments of dust for earthly use. It weaves the new robes for the departing soul; it fashions the celestial or- ganism, or, more properly, God gives us a body as it hath pleased Him now and beyond the grave.” . . . . “I wish to put on record here that, for myself, there is noth- 208 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. ing in any particle of flesh or blood that ever belonged to my body that creates in me the least desire to ever see it again. “. . . . Beyond the grave we have found that the spirit is immortal, and that it will be clothed upon with a new form when the old one perishes—a house not made with hands, eter- nal in the heavens—a house, not a tent.” These are the views we have quoted from the founder of Methodism, and which, we believe, will be the view taken by the churches at no distant day. It is the same entertained by Spirit- ualists, and the teaching of those who are now in the resurrection state with whom we have held communication on the subject. CHAPTER XVII. S P I R I, T – W O R L D . BROTHER PEEBLEs, in a letter to our home medium, writes: “I want some spirit to come and control you, giving a minute description of the spirit-world, and his or her spirit home. No perambulating—we've had too many of them leading us into confusion. We want details and exactness. I want it to pub- lish in our homes and employments hereafter.” We give it to the readers of this volume: “The spirit-world is not far removed from the natural world. In point of appearance the spirit-world closely resembles the natural world. The similarity is too striking for you to believe." The mind views spirit in the sense of intangibility, as something like misty nothingness, when the truth is, spirit to spiritual things is tangible and real. The spirit-world, as we term it, is the abode of undeveloped spirits—those who have not long left the body, and those who, by the laws of spirit-life, have not arisen to higher spheres by progression. Here they are in- structed in regard to higher aims and spheres; here spirits from the higher spheres come to talk to them of God's love, and make them feel they are bound to Him by that electric chain which holds every atom of God's creation together. Love makes this chain bright always, and the ages of eternity will only serve to increase its brightness. The spirit-world is en- circled by this chain, and spirits who are not developed above the transgressions and errors committed while in the body, (209) 2 IO THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. could never feel the influence of this electric brightness were they not directed and instructed by those who, with feelings God-like, come to them, making their abode brighter by telling them of their union with God and holy angels by this electric chain of love. “Springs from this love put forth their streams, which run through the spirit-world in sparkling rivulets, much like those of earth, but the water is of electric brightness, which comes from the fountain, God. “Fruits grow here, but their sweetness and delicious flavor come from the parent tree, God, and are delicious in propor- tion as the soul seeks after Him. We know these things, for in the spirit-world we learned to teach others the truths we re- ceived from higher spheres. The sun shines, making the spirit- world present the appearance of sparkling electric emanations from bodies surcharged with that element. This brightness can not be seen by those whose souls were in darkness, as ‘ those who had long been dead’ in trespasses and sin. ‘Eyes have they, but they see not ; ears have they, but they hear not,’ for God was not-in all their thoughts while in the body; now they must ‘work out their salvation.' Spirits help them only as they help those on the earth plane. We come to them, teaching them as we teach you. . They receive our in- structions as you often do, with infidel trust. This prevents our help, but we labor on ; one soul is worth thousands of worlds like this and earth. Ministers often say this without feeling the full import of the sentiment. God sends us to gather from the four corners of the earth and spirit realm those His love created and redeemed. “My spirit home is in what we know as the fifth sphere. Here the spirit bodies of those who have passed through the first spheres of progression live when not engaged on errands of mercy to lower spheres, and teaching earth ones the duties which Christ came to teach them. Here we meet in council to delegate messengers with power to operate in matters per- * SPIRIT-WORLD. 2 I I taining to spiritual development and carrying out the plans of God's ministration of government. His plans are executed by His ministering angels. They come to us from higher courts, and send us to those lower in the plan of God's govern- ments. It is our council that directs mortals in spiritual affairs. Then those below us, more material in their offices, impress in temporal matters. Here the spirit is more devel- oped, and the spiritual life is more perfect than in lower spheres. Material resemblances lose their influence, and more of God is seen, because God is spirit, and can not be seen in material things. Consequently the materialized aspect of the spirit- world passes away, and love and wisdom, which belong only to God, fill the realm. Christ presides more personally here than in the lower spheres, where He is known as their material sun. The spirit-world is the abode of those who know Christ as the “light of the world.” He directs the ministerial employ- ments; He sends us by the power of God, and bids us go into all the world, teaching the commandments He gave them before He left the body. God is seen here in Christ, ‘reconciling the world,' and bringing the souls He has created to the fold which Christ meant when He said, ‘the sheep know the shepherd's call, and will follow him.’ “The sphere in which we dwell can not be described by comparing it with material things, for all is spiritual, and “God in Christ’ is the glory of it. This is all I can tell you. More you can not comprehend while body and spirit are united, for all things partake of the nature of earthly things when spirit looks through mortal being. Spirit is spirit, and can only be seen with the internal being, and that must be freed from ma- terial surroundings before it can see God in all His power and goodness, and wisdom and love. “Mr. Peebles must wait until he comes over for details and perfect description of spirit life and homes. We can not adapt our descriptions to his material understanding so as to give him what he desires.” 212 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. r BISHOP OTEY, THE EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF TENNESSEE. I was intimately associated with this eminent divine for many years. Our acquaintance commenced when I was sta- tioned in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1838, and continued until he terminated his earth-life. We were together much during our investigations of Spiritualism in 1855. Soon after I with- drew from the Church, at a séance with Mrs. Hollis, he talked with me for some time audibly. I will copy the account I gave in “The Clock Struck Two " : “One of the friends of each person spoke to them, not so loud, but distinctly. Bishop Otey was the one who spoke to me. He said: ‘Mr. Watson, you have done right. You should not have remained where you were not at liberty to express your sentiments freely. Every pulpit in the land will proclaim this truth, and every household will enjoy the blessed privilege of communing with loved ones. You will live to preach this glorious truth from the pulpit to the people.’ He referred to our investigations here in 1855; said what he be- lieved then, now he knew to be truth. He spoke very approv- ingly of ‘Clock Struck Two,' and said I must get out another edition of ‘Clock Struck One.” “As soon as you can, go on with your work, and I will be your guide and counselor.’” I have many reasons for believing that he has faithfully ful- filled this voluntary pledge given many years since. The fol- lowing from him was given through Mrs. Hawks: “I come to you, my friends, not a stranger, for I labored among you for years; and I found much happiness in your midst, and realized the joy of divine inspiration. I was called away before my work was finished—laid aside my earthly robes for heavenly robes, and entered into the kingdom of my Father, where I found a new field of labor encircled by all my earthly works, binding me so closely to them, that I found it very diffi- cult to understand that the change had taken place and I was indeed dead. º SPIRIT-WORLD. 2I3 “The knowledge soon came to me, and with it the grand truth, that, though I were dead, I still lived; and, by the will of the Holy Spirit, my soul could move and act as when in the body. My first desire was to return to my people and strive to make my presence known. My wish to return was granted, but the power to make myself known failed, inasmuch as they had hardened their hearts against the truth, and I was forced back into the shadows of uncertainty, and a season of doubt possessed me. But as the new light revealed itself, I learned to see through the shadows, and to understand that there was a law which governed individuals as well as principles, and that I must learn to understand the law which governed the human system ere I could find the way to make myself known. “Many kind friends came to me. I attached myself to a great soul, whose life had been sanctified through true and di- vine principles. He became my teacher, and, like a true dis- ciple, I have followed him faithfully, learning each day more and more of God's divine presence, and the power which works through all life, and bringeth in the end perfection unto all. “Let me converse with you upon the spirit realm. “Its locality I can not designate. It is beyond the power of the finite mind. There is a spirit-world around you, where move millions of undeveloped souls, who daily communicate errors through mediums. Ignorant, undeveloped souls, the same as when they inhabited the body, the change from their earth-tenements has not lifted them beyond their earth-desires and wants. If the spirit was not exalted in its aspirations, if the soul did not reach out toward God while in the body, death will not exalt it. You have more perfect angels in the body, who, as men, women, and children, live upon your earth, than those who come through many mediums and call them- selves perfect. Such spirits can not leave your earthly atmos- phere to visit the higher spheres. The pure in spirit, who still dwell within the portals of earthly flesh, are nearer each day the heavenly kingdom than they. 2I4 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “Your earth with its conditions forms a type of our sphere, with its many circles. You receive from us false and true com- munications. Clouds as well as sunshine visit you. “The teachings of spirits are the reflex of their souls, bearing upon the mirrored surface of the medium's brain. “Every description of spirit-homes, spirit-advice, and com- munication comes to you as the medium may be advanced spiritually, or as her perceptive faculties may be. The powers of reception are aroused by the increase of the spiritual, and the perceptive is colored by the receptacle. “The more spiritual and true the medium's life, the more divine and perfect the reflex which comes to you. “In our spheres we have concord and discord of sentiment; we have the subjective and the objective. Life is purer and truer than upon earth, and subject to the same varieties of opinion. The higher and more glorious spheres we have no power to explain, nor could it be understood by any but those who have attained that degree of purity which enables them to enter in through the golden gateway. “We are aided from the higher spheres, and, as we purify ourselves, we become more ethereal, and with higher love, reach out for a more perfect sphere. It is even so with you of earth ; as you advance spiritually, you reach out toward the sphere above you, and ministering spirits come to direct you to a condition of life beyond that which you dwell in. “Below you, around you, and above you lies a spirit-world. An element of spirits is everywhere. Concentric groups move in the sphere congenial to others. They are attracted to their localities by a law which forces all to their sphere; as they merit reward, so they receive it. They gravitate through their spiritual development by the same law of gravity which is in nature. “As ye are at death, so ye awaken into the new life; every deed alive and strong with you. Memory forges links which can not be severed ; they are eternal. The more perfect and SPIRIT-WoRLD. 2 I 5 bright the links in memory's chain, the purer and holier the heaven. Kingdoms of glory grow from the soul, and he who has brought his life to that stage of goodness which brings him, while still in the body, nearer unto our Father's kingdom, has felt and realized heaven, and established for himself a sphere like unto the higher spheres in the spirit-world. “As our sphere is composed of many circles, so is yours. Man's advancement forms the circle. So with us, the growth of the spirit seeks a circle higher wherein to move, and, as bur wisdom and refinement increase, so in like proportion is the sphere which we attain, and that which once appeared high to us, now seems low. Our situation becomes perfect as our spirits advance, and we are forced to enter into conditions suited to our spirit-growth. “Divinity is the center pivot upon which all advanced cir- cles move, and, by the power of love, all are bound. It is the golden cord of salvation which unites our world with the earth and all its spirit-surroundings. “Go to work, my brethren, to create for yourselves a spir- itual element which shall bring the “kingdom of heaven on earth,’ that out of the material life may grow more souls for the advanced spheres, and less for the low and dark condi- tions; that your ignorance may no longer be visited upon you through the undeveloped spirits who find their way to your homes through unenlightened mediums.”—Séance conducted by J. B. Ferguson. On another occasion he wrote as follows: “My friends, once more I stand in your midst—once more lift my voice that it may be heard by the people. I come not as an angel of light clothed in bright raiment, but: as a brother man, desir- ing to teach you what I have learned since I left your land. I have no text, I know no sect, nor conform to any Creed; I come not to preach a sermon, but to speak to you in a natural way, and teach you of the glory of the spirit plane, of the grand visions of Deity, and the progress of the soul from earth to 2 I6 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Paradise. In dream-like slumber my spirit was borne far above rainbow lights, through silver shades and rosy clouds. From the dream I awoke amid the sound of song that came from a hundred voices; anthem after anthem swelled upon the breeze, and the chorus burst forth from hundreds more in one joyous ſº “‘God unveils the hidden world; Soul, thy journey now pursue !’ “I moved onward at times with great rapidity, then again I would find myself moving slowly, and seemed to be detained by the influence of a power beyond mine own, which drew me backward. I have since learned this was the grief of my friends upon the earth. My angel guide filled my heart with a feeling of veneration which lifted me up and bid my spirit seek higher for its home. As we moved onward I caught a glimpse of jeweled skies, a splendor of sunbeams, which filled my being with enraptured life; fragrance filled the air, and melody sounded everywhere. A sense of perfect rest filled my spirit, and my heart was full of love. “My spirit shook its rainment from its earthly shell, and its brain quickened with the sense of new worlds afar from gross material atoms. Memory lingered and gathered in the sowing and reaping of the many seasons of my life ; shadows fell over some, and o'er others sunshine, but the lifting up came through deeds well done, and my frame grew strong, and every pulse contained a living might wherein dwelt an eternal truth, made grand by an everlasting love. “I felt the influence of the divine, or better part of myself. I knew that my spirit, as a crystal globe, reflected the Maker's hand. I felt a life all new, and from that life I drew a power which gave me strength and crowned me with a majesty which led me from the dusty form which I had worn for years, and my soul, as the temple of my spirit, glowed with the electric touch of its new life. God’s love encompassed me, and more SPIRIT-WORLD. 217 and more His image shone, as saints and séraphim around me gathered. “Here was a blending and unfolding of glories all new to me, but the light and splendor that draped their lives and filled their souls with love revealed to me the reflex of a more divine and perfect light—a light from the Eternal and Infinite. His Spirit shone through all. - “My spirit paused, and calmly questioned through its faculties, God's infinitude. I gazed afar off, to the right hand and the left, upward and downward, and I saw that every form, accord- ing to its place, received a touch of splendor from His Spirit; His power created all forces, and all were subject to His will. I saw that all divine light was but the light of His love, and as that love increased the nearer drew that form to the Spirit of the Infinite; and as the light increased, so increased His Spirit there, until through the form that once upon the earth had dwelt, creation worked outward, and new thoughts were born to build new worlds, and bring new species of life to work in turn their life up to God. “As my spirit mused my soul grew stronger, and light fell clearer across my brain; and like a chain of births I gathered in the soul's advance, until I saw within myself, soul and spirit take its form, and mind and heart create the will over, while the brain tranquillized the whole. I saw its workings from the outer and the inner wall, and the mind through sensation moved, worked through life upon matter, chasing time, living in the past, and building for the future. Each kind sought its own, its separate sphere, suited to its mind, and built its faith upon its own conditions. “One Great Spirit reaches all, wheresoever they be. Each planet is inhabited by a separate race, yet all derive their life from the one great Life, and are illumed by His Spirit. Noth- ing has changed amid the countless orbs of heaven since first they sang their awakening song. It is man who moves the countless changes over earth's broad belt. He lifts or debases IO 218 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the framework of beautiful life. He closes the portals of his inner being and hides the image of God. The world grows in wondrous arts, and increased science crowns man as victor ; but the beautiful garden of the soul is left uncultivated, and angels can not find their way amid the débris which has gathered there. The love which comes to lift the spirit to its soul-center, is lost amid ambition and selfish deeds. & “The fine-arts with their beauteous shades, the great inven- tions made to bless the earth, all fail to lift the spirit where the light of love supreme forever dwells. The spirit can not soar to where, all radiant, showers this light, until it seeks within the inner wall, where lies buried the light which comes from God. “I was aroused from my meditations by my guardian angel, and onward I felt myself urged, and, with rapid speed I was propelled past green fields and perfect flowers.. I queried, ‘Am I passing through another sphere down to earth P’ But no, this can not be; for the same beautiful, intoxicating light lives here. It is in the flowers and over the hill-tops, and fills all nature with a halo unknown to earth. I am but in another sphere, more real than earth, more perfect, pure, and good; all seems touched with the rays of the setting sun, and everything is bathed in a calm of divine content. Perfect love flows as sweet music over all. This is the plane of ‘golden life’; all drink from the Celestial Fount of God. It is one of the bright rounds of the ladder of the universe, and the golden threads of time know no end. Waves upon waves of music unceasingly roll, and God's great Spirit centers all; while radiating circles around the Center increase the Infinite in the finite form. “What a grand space of beauty lay before me ! So perfect was the universe of spheres My soul was touched when I saw how harmonious worked the divine laws. The weaker I saw were here by the stronger sustained, and all by the one great Power held up. Within a perfect solar light an interior ray dwells, more perfect than the light reflects, and all seem fed from this One great central Sun. SPIRIT-WORLD. 219 “I found as my soul in strength increased, that my intuitive powers awakened, and I saw unrevealed interior forms, which seemed to hold within themselves second selves. I saw that every atom bore upon its face the impress of an uncreated shape. “I will strive to know more of this.’ So my spirit spoke ; and then I wondered, will these atoms take unto them- selves forms, and become organisms ? But my spirit could not answer. All that I had learned while upon earth, my long years of study, the constant culture of my mind, could not reach the wonderful works I saw revealed. I could but gather glimmerings. I must begin anew, and gather knowledge where the lights are clear and reflect truths. “I found myself moving onward, the air fragrant, delight- fully so, flowers glowing with their diamond centers. Two loved ones joined me, and journeyed by my side. My breast throbbed with joy, and my frame was quivering with ecstatic bliss. I saw before me a line drawn which looked like the margin of the sea when gilded by the rays of the setting sun. A calm, holy light sprang up, and all life seemed to bow in solemn grandeur. I saw I was entering another circle. I moved through a curtain of fleecy whiteness into greater glories than ever my mind had conceived ; and I turned to speak to my companion ; for until that moment I found I could not give utterance to my thoughts. How glad the sound which with joy burst from my daughters' lips, ‘Father, we are entering our home !' - “My soul leaped with joy to once more hear the dear voices of my beloved daughters, their souls responded to mine, and from their spirits there came a strong love-light which lifted my spirit high upon the golden waves of beauty. The air around me was like shimmering waves, flashing and then softening like Eden's twilight, tranquillizing into a serene and holy calm which lulled me into slumber. How long I slept I know not. I awoke to ſind myself in a softly-lighted grotto, shaded by palm trees and twining vines with scarlet berries and fragrant flowers. A E2O. THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, sense of loneliness came upon me which the beauty of the place could not dispel. “I arose and walked out of the grotto to meet my daughters, with my father and my mother. Who can tell the joy of that meeting P My father stood before me in the prime of man- hood—my mother, a beautifully matured woman of twenty. I gazed in wonder ; old age had left them, and into the new life they had sprang regenerated. I wondered if I too had found the change, and from my soul they caught the thought, and my mother led me into a temple where clear crystal formed the walls, and there I saw myself in early man- hood's grace, while all around me floated the deeds of my life, in countless numbers strangely mixed—some brightly light, others clouded and crossed with deep lines. “Clearly came to me the truth, “There is no death.’ My mother said, ‘My son, it is memory you see. It will be ever with you, as eternal as your inner soul. Time with its progres- sive line will increase the brighter lights until the dark and strangely crossed will fade, but the reflective powers of your being will never cease to be.’ “Then I felt upon my soul a lingering dimness of my former self, and I struggled to expand my mind to gather in more clearly these strange and new revelations. Here again came to me the lifting up. God in His love shone over all, and I lifted my voice as one among the many present, in praise for His untold mercies, and I thanked Him for the strength which had led me to labor faithfully, and use well the talent He had given unto me. A greater light came as my soul communed, and my faculties all ablaze with light, found in all God's works a wisdom mighty, grand, and great. Through harmony of body and spirit my soul had bloomed into perfect manhood, and a feeling of gratitude overwhelmed it and lifted me up nearer to: the great Spirit of all, and with my arms entwined around my mother I praised God for the perfect part which from her I in- herited, and which had aided me to lift myself still nearer unto SPIRIT-WoRLD. 22 I Jām. The winds caught the joy of my soul, and all the world about me seemed moved with ecstatic bliss, and from out the palm grove we went into a luminous city, whose bright streets shone like bars of gold, and buildings of jasper rose high above us, forming avenues of light beyond human conception or spirit power to delineate through mortal form. “Around the city rivers like molten silver ran, and fair ships and gay boats moved upon the face of the stream, reflecting in perfect outline the white sails and bright-colored bows; soft melodies sounded upon the air, from birds which dipped their gay plumage in its waters. Tall trees alive with bright-bloom- ing flowers grew along its banks, and the voices of happy chil- dren made perfect the scene. As I stood with my mother be- neath the ārchway of a snowy temple of crystal spar, my daugh- ters again approached me ; and it was my eldest, my beautiful child, who had suffered most when in the body, with her face all lighted up with holy love, bade me enter the mansion pre- pared for me in heaven. “And here, my dear friends of earth, I must leave you ; for my power is not yet sufficient to give to you even a shadow of the beauties of that home. The flowers of God bloom eternal, and the trees of life are perpetual. Communing angels from higher spheres visit where I dwell, and as their feet press the bloom-covered grass a new-born gladness fills our city.; sweet happiness holds all in a sacred union of spiritual glories. God be with you all.” From Rev. T. P. Davidson, who was the first preacher in this country, and at his death the oldest member of the Mem- phis Conference: sº “BRO. WATSON :—I promised to tell you of my passing from the body, and my entrance into spirit-life in detail—will begin from the last visit you made me. I was breathing even then, it seemed to me, in an atmosphere which was partly of earth and partly of heaven; so beautiful were the visions spread out be- fore me. Angels would come and go, bearing in their hands 222 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. flowers and gems, which they told me were the products of the land to which I am hastening. Their faces were illumined by a bright light, that I felt in my soul was the reflection of the love of God toward me; and that mine would beam with the same heavenly lustre, as soon as the river was crossed—which was bearing my little spirit-craft upon its glittering bosom. It was nearing the shore of time each moment; often I could see the waves rise and obscure its approach ; but ever and anon they would float away, and leave the spirit-craft riding the waters of the stream, which John saw flowing from the throne of God. Well, it neared the shore of the earth-sphere, and as one falling asleep and dreaming of some delightful vision, I passed out of my old body. When free, I was awakened by the angel oarsmen who were uncabling my bark and making ready for the shores of the summer-land. They sang, and the song was— “‘She has landed many thousands, And can land as many more.’ “I was listening to the strains, when a vision of such ecstatic beauty was spread out before me that I cried glory to God; who made all these joys for me. “What shall I render tº Him for all His benefits toward me P’ Then the choir of heavenly . music bade me welcome to the mansion prepared for me. I was met by my friend and Bro. Moss, who told me he came as the special escort of my disembodied spirit, because he knew I would at once recognize him and know that I had passed from death unto life. Then my loved ones came around me, and calling me brother, welcomed me to their heavenly abode. They did not call me as you call kindred ties, but brother is the term or tie which unites all in the spirit-world. The an- gels of God are one great and grand brotherhood. “The spirit-world is beyond my language to describe, but I will tell you homes are here for all, with every beauty and joy for which the spirit is prepared. We meet in circles as SPIRIT-WORLD. -223 you do on earth when you desire a happy reunion, but each have duties and work which engage them always. No inactivity here. God has a work for all, and that work is our chief de- light. Jesus Christ meant this when He said, ‘I do the work of my Father.’ ‘My Father worketh hitherto and I work; meaning He did as He was bidden of the Father. “I preached a life-time, and a long one too, but never under- stood the law of recompense; nor the fact that I was a spirit independent of the body, and must pay the spirit's debt with- out any assistance from any one, save the mighty power of God moving the grand machinery of law, by which all His creatures are governed, in the body and out of it. I will finish this subject before long; am compelled to quit now. - . “T. P. DAVIDSON.” “BRO. WATSON :—I must finish my detailed account of the spirit's life, and what I saw when I entered the mansion pre- pared for me. A book was spread out before me, and all I had ever done amiss was written therein ; for which I at once understood I must atone, before I could reach the spirit's high and eternal abode. That eternal abode was to be the spirit's progress, for its progress will be eternal. We must make recompense for all misdeeds, but while we do that, those works that were done for the glory of God and good of our neighbor, stand to our credit. For them we receive reward, in pro- portion as we suffer for evil deeds. “This book was not of ink and paper, as books are with you, but the memory. This stands forth, having upon its tablet every act and thought, which in the body is the building up of the spirit's condition, in the spirit-world. Oh, if the spirit in the body could comprehend this, how much that is done would be left undone, and good deeds would be the chief aim of life. By them, God is glorified, and the spirit made more like Him. “To give you a description of the spirit-world would be only to tell what you can not understand until you become disem- 224 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. bodied. Spiritual things are not material, and can not be com. prehended by material minds; or minds which are in constant contact with material things, receiving their impressions from them. This is why the disciples could not understand the spiritual meaning of the Master's teachings. They were mate- rial. When He told them of the leaven of which they must be- ware, their minds naturally reverted to the physical need, and bread was the idea they received. I will say that flowers, birds, streams, landscapes, and everything beautiful to the eye or delightful to the taste, exist here, and everything that in- vigorates the spirit, and that adds to its growth. It is de- veloped by receiving that bread which the Saviour said we should eat and never hunger, and by that water He said we should drink and never thirst. The influx of God's love and the spirit which comes from His own being, is that bread and Water. “We rest from labor when the spirit needs rest, which it does, because the laws of spirit are not perfected, only as the law which controls the spirit's progression is fulfilled. We rise above the need of rest, just in proportion as we rise nearer God's perfection. I would write more, but could not give you any ideas that would increase your knowledge, for you can not know until you pass from the body, what the surroundings in spirit-life are, and how the spirit is adapted to them. * “T. P. DAVIDSON.” CHAPTER XVIII. * THE LAW OF RECOMPENSE. THIS is one of the most important lessons to be learned within the vast range of human knowledge. Very few, com- paratively, we think, have any just views of this great funda- mental principle in God's moral government. The popular teaching of the day in regard to it is one of the greatest errors of the age. We shall continue to lift our voice and use our pen as long as either can be used to warn those who come within our influence, that he that doeth wrong, as the Master said, must suffer for the wrong-doing. This is as certain and as inevitable as any law of our being. There is no way of avoiding the penalty of violated law, but by recompense in this world or in the other. Upon this, as much as any other point, does Spiritualism take issue with the creeds and dogmas of the day. If we are to attach importance to what we get from the spirit-world, we must consider this question forever settled. There are those who claim to have conferred upon them power to forgive sins. Others claim to be in the regular line of the Apostolic succession, while others claim to be of the elect number, all representing themselves to be called of God as was Aaron ; but unless their lives bear the scrutinizing eye of the ever-present God, they will have to suffer for wrong- doing on the other side of the river of life. We have been in communication with a number of preachers who lived and preached in this city in other years. They all bear toº (225) 226 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. testimony to the truth of what we are writing. One, who filled the office of Station Preacher and Presiding Elder here, many years ago, had told us that some who professed religion while he was their pastor, are now working out their salvation over there. We want to say to all, no matter what station you may fill in Church or State, depend on nothing but to do right. Ren- der to all their dues, love God and your fellow-man, and as Paul said, “Work out your own salvation.” We believe in the law of recompense, and that whatever we sow in this life we reap in the other. That we make our heaven or hell by our good or bad deeds while on earth. When we leave it, the great law of affinity makes every one gravitate to his own place. We not only believe “that proba- tion ought to be carried into the other world,” but that it is carried there. Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison, as a Methodist preacher said in a sermon in the First Methodist church in this city some years since, for the same purpose He preaches to sinners here. He said in His first Sermon on the Mount (verse 26), “Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost far- thing.” When that farthing is paid, by the law of recompense he may come out, is the only legitimate inference which can be drawn from what He said. We have had much experience, in our investigation of this subject, given by those who have passed over to the other life. There is universal agreement in regard to this matter, so far as we have ever learned it. At our home circle we had two Confederate soldiers come two evenings, seen distinctly and connmunicated freely, a part of which we give below as their experience. We have had a number of such cases, some of them far worse than they, come to us begging our prayers. Our work on the other side we expect will be to aid the un- fortunate ones, who have failed to have that purity which is necessary to happiness, to come up to a higher state by the uni- THE IAW OF RECOMPENSE. 227 wº versal law of PROGRESSION. Hear what our stranger friends say for themselves on the subject : “DEAR SIR:—We are drawn here to your circle by the pleasant and exhilarating atmosphere which surrounds, and the dear old reminiscences of by-gone days. I can not tell you to-night who I am. My name you know ; but I come as one whom you have known and aided. I need your earnest prayer and help every way. We passed over when the struggle be- tween the two contending armies was severest. I know your kind, sympathetic nature too well to feel that you would turn a deaf ear to what I should say. You must pardon me. There are no wars nor tumults here to mar the happiness of us, but there is contention—just so far as to make us feel as though your medium would not yield to us. I know her. Your wife in spirit-life is with you now. She has aided us to gain access to this channel of communication. We find from her actions that she doesn't know us. We are not situated as we expected, nor did I think we deserved as much happiness as I do now enjoy. We are never so desirous of intervening as when we see difficulties, and, now that I have to a great extent be- come more conversant, I find that I am congenial, with noble, good spirits, for the earth plane. The little children came at- tending me, and no one can sustain a tornado as well as children. They, however, have nothing to say, but to impart an influence upon me. “I must beg pardon for any intrusion which I have made. Good-night.” “MR. WATSON:—You would not remember me and my com- rade if we were to tell you our names. Among the great num- ber who were cared for during the war we were two of the number who were so kindly nursed and fed by you and family. We were two of the number who passed from our toilsonne life in your city. We laid our weapons of warfare down, and, though we had no mother's gentle and loving hands to smooth our * 228 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. * brows—no one to love us with a mother's love, no sister's gen- tle words of comfort—we had the tender caresses and kind attention from the dear good women of your family especially. We would not have come to you, but felt that we could not refrain from a delightful mission of returning to our old camping-ground and most naturally drawn to you, our dear friends. “We are never very far from your plane—for we must con- fess, with horror, that we are reaping the effects of a reckless, misspent life; and we earnestly beg you, yes, implore you, to pray for us, for we desire a happier home than ours. We are miserable, we are among a class who seem to be very much like me, and we are forced to believe that like attracts like. “Will you, Dr. Watson, pray that we may be happier, and that we may attain to higher degrees of joy P I ask this of you. You must not ask our names, for it is useless for you to know. “We were both buried in the burial-ground near your city— call it what you may—name was unknown to us—we presume it was “Elmwood;’ where your Confederate soldiers were, we were most assuredly. “We were at the hospital, or what was termed hospital. We fear we have made you sad, but you must not feel sad, for you are doing us good in this part of our mission—heeding our admonitions and promising to pray for us. “Yes, we know we can. We have made but slow progress, but our spiritual senses are being enlightened, and now we feel that if we call for a cup of water we shall obtain it. “God bless you ! We go away feeling that our burdens have been lightened, and though we are heavy with guilt, that to a great degree has been removed by your kind and Christian sympathy you seem to have for us. We do not want to tres- pass upon your time, but if you could but know how much we have been relieved, you would rejoice with us. “Good-night, Two STRANGERS.” THE LAW OF RECOMPENSE. 229 The following communication was addressed to a friend who was present, part of which is withheld, it being of a personal character: “Miserable and wretched are those who spent their mortal lives in transgressing the laws of God. Is there a hell? you *would ask. Oh well may you ask that question of those who are suffering its tormenting conditions. I have come through this medium, my friends, to ask you to help me. I came to this circle, because your souls aspire to higher conditions, and, in con- sequence, light from the higher spheres descends and makes the darkness which surrounds our undeveloped spirits less intense. Some spirits, because they can not approach those angelic beings who come to point them to the light, return to earth in search of those affinities which they enjoyed while in the body, and commune with them in regard to wicked purposes. This is why they make no progress upward. I come to those whose spirits are in harmony with the good and happy, and thus attract to my spirit those bright and pure beings, whose emanations will leave an aura about my dark spirit, which will make the way of progress plain, and guide me upward from sphere to sphere. & “I would give my name, but there is only one of your cir- cle who knew me in the body, and to that one I care not to be known. That one thought me better than I knew myself to be. I was not honest in my professions, and hence the hypocrite's hell is mine. Oh I pray for me. You need not know my name to do that. * * * * “Now, Bro. Watson, it is my turn. How glad I am to see the ‘silver lining' of the cloud which has so long overshadowed the truth of spirit-communion. The Church people begin to see it, too; and the more they look at it, the broader and brighter will it appear, until the cloud will pass away, and the silver lining (by which I mean to symbolize the great light of truth) will guide them out of superstition and ceremony, as the * 23o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. pillar of fire and cloud guided the Israelites out of the wilder- ness. I only come to let you know I am on hand whenever good is being done. I lived for a good while in the body, and it is my aim now. JoHN Moss.” I then asked what we should do to help unhappy spirits, º which was replied : “What have you always done for such spirits? The laying aside of the body does not make them saints or devils. As you would help sinners in the body, help them out of the body. I am working to make them understand the atonement, so as to claim its benefits.” Spirits, on leaving the body, take their position just where their lives have prepared them for. Many spirits feel their position lower than they expected, because they have made their calculations from ignorance of God's requirements—to place their hopes of being carried to heaven on the death and sufferings of Christ, when God made them to work out their own destiny by doing His will. God sent Christ to teach them. His laws and requirements, so they might have the opportunity to make their heaven in spheres of joy. Heaven is a moral condition, and not a material plane of worship around the throne of a spirit-God. God is spiritual, and His creatures must be spiritual in their conceptions of Him. They must learn that Christ meant this when He said, “My Father and I are one.” Christ claimed to be the Son only as the God-spirit made Him so. He meant this when He said, “All things are given to me of my Father.” His power to perform miracles was given from God, and He found He could not perform them where a spirit of infidelity existed. He came to do His Father's will, and He did it in making man's salva- tion sure if he would obey the laws that God had sent Him to teach them. The entrance into the spheres is according to the laws of God, which are immutable and fixed. No spirit can change tº. THE LAw OF RECOMPENSE. 23 I those laws, but by obedience can take their position high or low, just as their obedience in a greater or less degree deter- mines. When death comes in the order of law pertaining to matter, the spirit seeks its affinities, let them be in the dark abode, or “outer darkness,” as the Scriptures term it, or in spheres of light and love. • Nothing prevents this association. Nothing can change the nature of the spirit affinity but a progressive desire. Man is made with feelings to make him good or bad—just in pro- portion as those impulses lead him to good or bad deeds. He can be spiritual by seeking that light which the Spirit of God brings to the soul in accordance with spirit laws. There are spirit laws as well as material laws. The spirit man is to spirit laws what the material man is to material laws. The spheres are like the stories of an immense building. In them is prepared a room for every son and daughter of Adam’s race. The room is adapted to the desire of its occupant. If he desire a better, the way is accessible by spirit effort. No spirit is chained to the “bottomless pit,” but is spiritually able to ascend if he obey the spirit laws. "The mind is illumined by the God-spirit, and they feel there are greater heights and brighter joys in higher spheres. This knowledge causes them to pray for the Christ-light to shine upon their dark abode, and their prayers are borne by angel missionaries to the Christ- spirit sphere, which is all light and love. The light shines down through the way made bright by obedience to this spirit law, and makes the dark spirit rise one step toward heaven. The angels always do behold the face of their Father, be- cause His Spirit is over all the creatures He has made. His face is in all His works, both in the natural and spiritual world. He sends His angels to earth to bind up the broken heart, to feed the poor, heal the sick ; and to make their duties known, they impress you and other mediums to convert the world by explaining from the spirit teachings what God requires of His creatures. Their mission is to make men pure and Christ-like, 232 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. by teaching them the truths preached by Christ in the cities and synagogues of the Jews, and in the temples of God, to the multitudes making Him their teacher, by following Him from place to place. “Ministering to those who shall be heirs of salvation,” is the object of spirit manifestations. The mind of man will be pre- pared for these great phenomena more rapidly when the Spir- itual Church is organized. The laborers will be greatly increased, and mediums will be developed in all places for the purpose of manifesting the different phases of spirit commun- ion. The missionary work is needed to spread this great truth, and mediums must travel. The circles must not mo- nopolize. The spiritual doctrine must go into all the world. Every creature must learn that Christ's second coming is near. The earth is quaking, and the conflagration is making red the earth and heavens with spirit illumination. The great city of Babylon is beginning to tremble to its very foundation. Men are crying for rocks and mountains to fall upon them, to hide them from God, but there is no escape from the laws of spirit sight. This spirit power is being felt from pole to pole, and men are learning the truths of God. CHAPTER XIX. MYSTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. FROM those given at our home circles, we are taught to erect our family altars with united hearts and minds, with praise and thanksgiving. He says: - No. I. “In the absence of the preachers who generally control the medium, I will drop a few words by way of suggestion. The circle must be formed anew. I.et the family all be pres- sent if possible. Conduct your sittings after the manner of religious service ; that is, let your hearts go up as one in prayer for the communion of saints, and let us see if we can not de- velop another phase of mediumship, or another medium. We must have something more in your family, for there is too much power to be lost to the world. “I am not one of the family band, nor a preacher, but will develop something right here if you will make conditions for me, as soon after supper as may be convenient. Engage for a short time in singing ; then some one lead in prayer. None are to be excluded from this privilege if they desire to pray audibly. Seat yourselves around the table; at least form a circle which will admit of all. Join hands to solemnly invoke the God of heaven to give power to the angel guides that they manifest to you in such a manner as will make you free from all doubt and skepticism, that angels do commune with mor- tals. Conditions brought about by minds acting in harmony (233) 234 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. or agreeing as touching one thing is a mighty strength to spirit manifestations. “I minister to earth ones from the high circles of heaven can not come from those high and holy spheres, without mak- ing the sacrifice purity makes when coming in contact with im- pure. I come from the sphere where wisdom is God, and God is wisdom—God is love, and love is God. Must I come to earth, without benefiting fallen and degraded earth ones? Fallen, because spiritually dead ; degraded, because spiritually blind. Can not see the slime and corruption that enwrap the soul, and hold it in chains of darkness. This is degrading to the divine spark, which burns in the human body, making it the earthly tabernacle. “I ask permission of your brother to call his attention to things of past days. By and in them, he will recognize the con- trol of one, who first threw the light and knowledge into his mind and soul, that the world of spirit, and the world of matter, were separated only by conditions. That lazy was the order by which . God, in manifold wisdom and goodness, visited His created in- telligences, in spirit or mortal form. He will know then who it is that desires a family Bethel, upon whose altar shall burn, night and morning, the Sweet incense of love, praise, and thanksgiving to God, for all the benefits toward the objects of His creation. * * “I will not control until my request is granted, and condi- tions made for me. Then I will tell of the great glory that awaiteth the spirit made pure and spotless by the law of pro- gression.” Next evening he wrote : “We come, friends, from the celestial sphere, to bid you God- speed. You have the conditions to-night we have desired so long. Your hearts are in unison, and we can approach. Your spirits are being baptized with the holy unction, which makes your aspirations ascend to the Holy Oracle, from whence comes every perfect and good gift, and bring wisdom and love that the MySTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 235 world struggling on in lights and shadows so much needs. Now, I must insist that you live so as to bring you nearer your angel guides, and they can come nearer to you, and make you realize in the inner man that God is supreme ; and breathes upon you in every zephyr that fans your fevered brows, when pressed with the cares and toils of earth ; breathes upon you in every flower which blooms, and sheds its fragrance all around you ; breathes upon you in every ray of light and every shade of darkness. “This is what we call the religious phase of Spiritualism. No phenomena to excite the curious mind, but that holy feeling of sympathy, which draws spirits to earth, to elevate by their com- munion, and not to produce wonders, as Moses did, to break down the stubbornness of the Egyptian rulers. You need nothing of that kind, from your stand-point to-night. You are looking to the abode of spirits, to learn what their food and rest mean. It does not concern whether your table tips or not. You feel we are here, and that is enough to make our presence known. “God is God, and is everywhere. Think not that anything is hid from the all-seeing eye, which is continually beholding every atom of His creation. Every thought is heard by His ever- present ear. You can not escape His presence. “I come now to dedicate the family Bethel. Upon its altar place your offerings to-night, which must be pure hearts and pure lives. No other offering is acceptable to God and angels, who come from the higher spheres. If they come from lower spheres, which they do, they can not instruct you in the wis- dom of God. Be kind to all, no matter how low their position in spirit-life, for you have a work to do for them. They come oftentimes for your prayers and benefits. Turn them not away. “As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; ' for they are of your brethren, and claim your sympathy and aid. “Now I go, but look for me always when harmony exists. I can not come amid discord. My mission will not adapt itself to inharmony, for in my sphere it is not known. Good-night.” 236 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. NO. II. “‘Watchman, tell us of the night.” As surely as the hands upon the dial-plate point to each succeeding hour, so surely do the indications of the times point to a mighty revolution and reformation in the Church and world generally. What meaneth the stir in the camp of orthodoxy P What meaneth all the launching out of the human mind in search of knowledge, both in material and spiritual things P Just as surely as the hands upon the dial-plate mark the divisions of time, just so surely is the time approaching, yea, now is, when a mighty power will be felt in the world, through the awakening of the human mind, to the knowledge of the great and mighty God, who con- trols all things. His manner of control is now being better understood, and will dispel all doubts as to JHis existence and infinite power. “Some minds are in the bonds of ignorance on this subject, and must be enlightened, before His mighty power will be dis- played, through the ministry of His angels; for all must know Him. No one must know for another, but every one for him- self, and realize in the inner man his rélation to the Almighty Father, and how his relation to Him moves the entire universe. Deep down in the bowels of the earth are the footprints of Deity. When these depths are explored He must be seen and honored. In the mighty orbit of God, where wheel innumera- ble worlds, His name must be honored and glorified. In the smallest atom of matter and in the wide domain of spirit, He must be recognized. God must be all in all in the minds and hearts of His creatures; then the great car of spirit will move with such accelerated velocity as to draw within its mighty progress all the ends of the earth. * “I do not come to talk of earthly things. It is spirit which sends me to the earth, and I come to deal with spirit. ‘Ho, ye, every one that thirsteth,' you can drink and never thirst again. In my sphere no material thought or aspiration lives, MYSTERy’s CoMMUNICATIONs. a 237 Above our sphere is the celestial realm, to which none but the angels of light have ever attained. From this sphere comes all the wisdom and knowledge which enable men to accomplish all those startling discoveries and make those wonderful dis- plays of wisdom which seem so akin to divine power. “Upon this subject I will communicate in future meetings, and show how spirit-power suggests and leads to certainties. Good-night. “Stranger, I will write, but, my friend, to you I am no stranger. When your Béthel has been sanctified by the over- shadowing of Cherubim and Seraphim, we will come and in- struct you in spiritual things, from spheres above your me- dium's control. Her control is wise and good, but not prepared to reveal the wisdom of higher realms.” Rev. John Moss, who was the Presiding Elder of the Mem- phis District, and whose communications will appear, wrote about this time : “I want to say a word. I and all your preacher band will. withdraw for a time from your family circle because of the con- trol who has recently taken charge. He is far above us, and will, if he can get entire control, give wonderful and wholesome doctrine, such as we are not prepared to teach.” NO. III. “Do I come with letters of commendation to Spiritual- ists from the realms of ineffable joy and bliss P Nay, verily; but I come to discover to them their shortcomings, and wherein they have perverted the holy revelation given to them, and have made it to serve the God of Mammon rather than glorify the great Master Builder, whose foundation-stone to the spiritual superstructure was laid in wisdom. No apprentice work of man's invention can add to, or take from, its strength or immovability. “I will now explain these prefatory remarks. The first 238 THE RELIGICN OF SPIRITUALISM. thought in the minds of many investigators, is to discover foibles in what the world terms Christianity, or the Christian religion; in order to make the Spiritualism they are willing to accept, adapt itself to their discordant and unspiritual natures and lives. Then they begin to rant about this and that idea, which antagonizes, as they conceive, with the Bible defects and discrepancies, circumscribed creeds, church dogmas, and the revolution which must take place in all these things, before men will see and accept the truth. They do not remember, that much they receive from spirits who have passed into the bound- less space of infinity, is as often unreliable as the thoughts given by mortals. They make to themselves gods as did the Jews, when they attach so much importance to the created, and forget that the kingdom of God is within their own souls. “When their spirits are in harmony with God's law, and their souls in strict obedience to the rules of life and conduct taught by Jesus Christ, they will energize themselves in adding to, rather than destroying, the good already accomplished by the church organizations of the present day. There is no reason for Spiritualists to desire an organization separate and apart from the Church; but put their shoulders to the wheels of the mighty vehicle and help to remove the burdens that have sunk her so deep into the mire of ignorance and superstition. Yes, I say superstition, for in her ceremonies she worships an imagi- nary being and fails to comprehend the spirit which seeketh . spirit worship, and will not, can not, by the laws of His infinite and divine being, receive worship offered in sacrifice to idols. “The Church religion, and scientific Spiritualism, are the ex- tremes. Christ, and the religion. He established, by the power of God working in and through Him as the agent of man's sal- vation, must harmonize and build up a media through which God and angels, His delegated ambassadors, can enlighten humanity in regard to the great truths which uphold and con- tinue the vast and mighty creative power, that nature displays in all her grand and wonderful harmony. The visible is only MySTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. º 239 the little germ which expands and develops, through all the range of the invisible. “This little germ of God's own nature, that lives in and ex- pands every human soul, must be restored to Him when the mortal shall have put on immortality. He will by His own immutable and never-ending laws, bring it nearer to his own perfection. The nearer it approximates the great source from whence the little spark emanated, the greater difficulty will there be in its coming within the earth's orbit to communicate with its inhabitants. It is owing to this, that communications even from those in more exalted spheres are often mixed with error. The number of channels through which they come must of necessity make them unreliable ; for each one imparts to them its own peculiar characteristics. For this reason, every communication should be tested well. Spiritualists often make blunders in receiving that which is untrue in regard to Bible . teachings. The Bible was written much in the same way that communications are received now : through mediums. The channels through which its teachings came, were varied and many; each possessing a peculiar cast of mind, which imparted their several characteristics; hence the obscure passages and discrepancies. These should cause no Spiritualist to ignore the Bible, for in it lies the manifest truth of spirit return. For this, if nothing more, it should be used as a weapon for the breaking down of all prejudice to the belief in the return of the departed, and the fact that communion with them was enjoyed and can be now. “Jesus Christ meant to show His disciples this truth, upon the mount of transfiguration, and did. Without that demonstration they would never have recognized Him in His spiritual body. He came to teach men the way of truth, and without the resurrection being demonstrated, so as to be under- stood by the material mind, it could not have had the effect it did, and the doctrine would not have been preached by His fol- lowers. The material, however, swallowed up the spiritual, 24O 3. THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. and men began to run off after the material, as did the Jews when Aaron made a god of gold, to satisfy their murmurings and keep them together until Moses could teach them the law given by the Spirit, who made the mountain burn and tremble, with the power of God given unto him. * “Paul taught the spiritual resurrection. He was shown by a great and powerful manifestation of spirit what the sevelation of Jesus Christ meant; and taught its truth by reference to its natural laws, the manifest effects of which the people saw con- tinually. I want to write, first for the benefit of Spiritualists— strive to get the ‘beam' out of their eyes, and then they will be prepared to enlighten and instruct, so .that the world will receive. Then the common brotherhood which Spiritualism inculcates will be the religion of the world. . I mean a spiritual Spiritualism, and not that which seeks its light and life from the material plane. ‘Oh, ye blind guides,' let the inner man be your first concern, and then your lives will be such as to draw from the higher spheres those spirits more capable of uniting the discordant material and making one grand and beautiful har- mony, which will embrace all souls who worship God in spirit. “There is a solace in the knowledge of the presence of spirit friends, which the soul needs after being tossed and tried by the cares and trials of the day. When you meet around this little altar, consecrated to the worship of God, and feel that your souls are in sweet communion with Him, then it is that we are drawn to you by that law which makes spirits, in and out of the body, blend in blissful harmony, and realize that the veil between is almost uplifted and the beautiful world of spirit brought within mortal vision. Many who experience this sweet communion yearn for the joys that await them on the other side. Could they realize their spirit-home in all its beauty and ecstatic joy, they would weary of the changing and conflicting scenes and relations which constantly meet them on the mortal plane, and thereby be unfitted for the working out of the mission they must fulfill, according to the will of God. MYSTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 24I “There is often too much desire to look beyond this mission, which causes the failure to meet its objects. Be patient, and work while it is day, for there is a night coming in the which your mortal toil will cease and the old casket lie down to rest. Then the untrammeled spirit will soar away upon the gales of heaven, and breathe the pure atmosphere of the Paradise of God, where no obnoxious or pestilential air can blight its beauty and freedom. The spheres above this paradise (for there are those where all material resemblances pass away) are bright with the light of God's own emanations. The light shines in one eternal day; and, oh the joys that await the progressive spirit can never be told in mortal language. “I could not describe angels and archangels, whose mission it is to instruct those below them in the laws of spirit progress, and to bring them up higher and higher. Their faces do al- ways behold the face of their Father, and in ‘His presence is fullness of joy.’ By His light they shine; they reflect His image, because purity and holiness are the signs they wear. “I will now leave, and let some of your former controls talk with my old friend, who has so often listened to my teachings. No evil or false teachings shall come from me, if I can have such conditions as will enable me to control your brain. Be happy and cheerful, as it is possible for you to be, then the pres- sure which so often defeats my control will be uplifted, and I can write more what the present state of Spiritualism in the world needs to make it a harmonizing religion, rather than to tear down that which has already been accomplished for good through other means.” NO. IV. “The subject of the spirit's final destiny is creating much spec- ulation in this, the time of spiritual revelations. Ministers who have never given the investigation of the modern phenomena their time and attention for an hour, appear very presumptuous to thinking and liberal minds, when they pronounced them all humbug—mental hallucination or odic force. They condemn II 242 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the same circumstances and manifestations that ushered in the Christianity which they boldly assert and preach, Their Chris- tianity has lost its vitality because of the departure from the faith in Jesus Christ to perform the works which He said should be the sign of God's approval and acknowledgment. They profess great faith in Christ, but at the same time doubt the power He conferred upon those He commissioned to preach His Gospel. “I am not an iconoclast, as many spirits are, who see from the sphere of varied and conflicting views. Those who were infidel in the body are infidel in the spirit-world, and ever will be, un- less by the aid of spiritual light they see their error, and cry, ‘Lord, Lord, open unto us.” The virgins who had no light made this appeal, and the Lord said, ‘I know you not.’ Be- cause they had no light they could not see their condition, and hence expected to be admitted without the necessary prepara- tion to fit them for entrance' into the light of the marriage feast. This parable was given to illustrate the dark spirit, who fails to comprehend and seek God by the light he can have. The Master's promise.will surely be realized by those who com- ply with the condition of that promise, “They that seek shall find.” “I am coming to you for the purpose of harmonizing Spirit- ualism and Christian religion, as it is called. Christianity, in its primitive purity, ignored the very ceremonial display which to-day is the curse of the Church. Christianity inculcated the same principles which to-day spirits from the higher spheres are trying to teach mankind, as the basis upon which the noble superstructure was built, but that it has been undermined and rendered unsafe. Repairs must be made. To do this it is not necessary to tear it down and remove its rocky foundation, but only to remove the rotten timbers which have been worked in by attempts to displace those which the Great Architect in- structed to be used. They are falling by their own insufficiency to stand the storms and repeated gales of infidelity and materi- alism, which have swept, and are sweeping all over the world. MySTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 243 “This ceremonial Church before mentioned is the result of these attempts to improve upon or adapt the teachings of Jesus Christ to each generation, rather than to make them the chief study and practice of life. The foundation of the great archi- tecture stands firm, and Spiritualism, when disrobed of its pre- tended wisdom, will use the knowledge which God and angels have in parted to it, for the enlightenment of the world, and rescue fallen humanity from the darkness and superstition of the age. I say pretended wisdom, for the knowledge Spiritual- ists have received has been turned into a curse, rather than a blessing, to many souls, because they have lost sight of its spir- itual intent and become absorbed in its phenomena. “This is true of many Christians. They have missed the spir- itual intent or meaning of the Bible, and have made its teach- ings to serve their own peculiar sect or creed. There is One that judgeth, who is greater than I or any created intelligence. He will make His law, which is taught in the Bible, to mani- fest His power and will, by mighty signs and wonders, until every tongue shall confess that God alone is mighty and pow- erful, and His kingdom shall be established upon earth. All other kingdoms shall fall because they are built upon the sand. “I do not come to manifest the power of God in physical phenomena, but my mission is to the spirit man—to teach that the development of spirit is that which will make Spiritualism swallow up every otherism that has not the spirit worship of God to make it acceptable to Him. The church organizations have done much to convert mankind from the errors of sin and transgression, but they have drifted away from the knowledge of God—“Cry aloud and spare not” all who presume to differ with their creeds and fail to attend upon their ceremonies. There is a reason for all this difference and failure, and a pow- erful awakening of their people must come, or they will make hopeless wreck of the faith which Jesus Christ taught when He said, ‘Believe me for the very works' sake.’ His works were intended to show the Kingdom. He came to establish. He did 244 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, many mighty works to show to the unbelieving Jews the power He possessed when their faith was sufficient to bring the Father's recognition. “Think not, my orthodox friends, that Spiritualism and the communion with loved ones a myth. You can enjoy all the benefits they bring in your church organizations, and they will give the impetus you need to lift you out of the ‘Slough of Despond” into which many of your people have sunk, be- cause of the want of knowledge as to the cause of the spiritual dearth in the Church, and its failure to meet the spirit's wants. Spiritualists, think not you are on the highway to peace and glory, when your souls are not reaching beyond the phenomena. These serve their purpose, but it is not these which bring you in harmony with God, and stamp you with His image. “Holy Ghost, Spirit of God baptize the Church as Thou didst on the day of Pentecost, and give her to understand what power it was that made them speak with tongues, and the man- ifestation of fire, which caused the disciples to realize the ful- fillment of the Master's promise. The sound as of a “rushing mighty wind’ was the electric force which produced the fiery development. “Holy Ghost, Spirit of God baptize the revelation which, in this materialistic age, Thou hast given to the world to make the ‘wilderness to blossom as the rose,' that it may go forth “conquering and to conquer, until all flesh shall know that Thou art God, and that there is none other but Thee—that Thou wouldst have all men to be saved, and that Thy king- dom.is an everlasting kingdom, and will stand though the hosts of hell seek to destroy. “O God, help us to honor Thee this night, in all the teach- ings we may give to Thy earth children, seeking as they are, the light which comes from Thee alone. “My friends, I do not wish to monopolize at these family meetings, but only to come each time, to direct your minds to the spiritual gain that awaits those who, from the moral sphere, MYSTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 245 aspire to the spirit's development, and leave the phenomena to perform their legitimate work. I am glad to meet you; and you may feel each day that my watchful care is over you, im- pressing you to good, and protecting you from harm. “I will not remain longer, for there are others who have come to tell you of their dark conditions, and desire you to help them by your prayers and communion.” No. V. “There is much said, oftentimes, of good intentions, but words are hollow sounds, unless verified or demonstrated in good works. “Spiritualists, what are you doing, to manifest your faith in works? You prate about moral elevation, and doing unto others as ye would they should do unto you, but how many souls are you benefiting by hiding, as you do, your “light un- der a bushel'? The fruits of your faith are manifested more in circle performances and testing the truth of phenomena, than expanding your souls by doing the works of your heavenly Father. If your religion is spiritual, then let the world see that it bears fruit of its own kind, for the ‘tree will be judged by its fruit.” “What good is being accomplished by all these wonderful marvels and manifestations? you are often asked. Then you are dumb, for want of that to show which will convince the in- terrogator that God is being glorified and humanity made bet- ter. Your organizations, for the greater part, are failures, be- cause you do not meet for spiritual benefit ; but to talk of this and that fault in the “teachings of theology,’ and to show how the spirit-world is engaged combating ‘old worn-out dogmas." Spirits who come to benefit you, and harmonize with all that is good, no matter of what name or sect, do not teach that the foundation-stone has any the less strength, but grandly upholds the noble superstructure, which Jesus Christ called the Church. “Upon this Rock will I build my Church.' “What that Rock was, is the important question to be solved. 246 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. It was Jesus Christ himself. He was the power or instrument through which God manifested to the Jewish people that He was strength and power. Unto Him was given the Light, to enlighten the world; and He communicated that J_ight, by doing good—giving demonstrable proof of all He claimed for the spirit dwelling in Him. God is Spirit. Jesus Christ, was the incarnation of God. Hence He in that sense was God; but not in the sense of many persons, or three persons in one, as you have learned from those who lost sight of the spiritual teachings of the Master, and multiplied gods, because of the misunderstanding of spiritual manifestations. He taught. spiritual doctrine, but they to whom He preached had no con- ception of a trinity which did not have distinctness of form and manifest individuality; hence they believed Him God, as none other was visible. Three persons in one is an utter im- possibility, and can never be true, no matter how explained or believed. { * “The spirit in man is not a trinity; but in its relation to the external nature or surroundings, it is threefold. The blade, the corn, then the full corn. The first is the manifestation of life; the second, the character of life ; the last, perfection. In the sense of natural law, physical development ; but in a spir- itual sense, subject to that degree of perfection which eternal progress will expand or effect. These are points which spirits find difficult to make plain, since the force of educated minds reacts upon or repels the law which spirits are under. “We can not at any time abruptly force inmpressions into unwilling minds—minds whose unwillingness to accept the truth is founded upon tradition or false education. Hence, we have to sow in the morning, at night, and all times if haply some seed may germinate and find the light ; shooting up first the blade, then the perfect fruit. We have to overcome prejudice, just as Jesus restored sight to the blind man. The first ap- plication was not effectual, but as greater power was applied, more light was received. MYSTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 247 “Now, be not discouraged if communications are defective. The time is coming when all obstacles to spirit communion will be removed and the two worlds be as one, worshiping and adoring the Great Power, who gave unto men the mediumistic gifts through which this communion is established. Then I would say to Spiritualists, be about your Father's business, and let the gifts given unto you glorify God, and make them not, as the ancient Jews did, to subserve wicked purposes. Bind on your sandals, and weary not until the whole world is traversed, and enlightened by the truth, which you have accepted by demonstrated facts. Let these facts serve as a stimulus to faith, but never let them satisfy you that you have nothing to do but believe them. A light that does not shine beyond a certain limit is no benefit to the dwellers in the darkness beyond. “The harbinger of the light promised those who ‘sit in dark- ness,' is modern Spiritualism. The light will come through its teachings and philosophy, when those seeing it shall shed or bear it forth, not by phenomenal manifestations, but with souls burdened with love and charity. Let every man feel his broth- er's need, and as Jesus Christ had pity and compassion, so must we and you, my mortal friends. He was the example of charity, patience, and self-sacrifice. He wore a crown of thorns; so must you, if you find that duty requires such suffering and mockery. He was moved with pity and love, when the disciples told Him ‘she crieth after us,’ and desired to put the woman to silence. So you must pity the cries of suffering hu- manity and relieve, notwithstanding they may be clothed in rags, and of repulsive appearance. Remember in them, as well as you, is the divine spark which God breathed into Illa.I]. “Your religion must be such as to attract and cement the hearts of all men. Never say, I am better or wiser than you, but, ‘come and let us reason together, and see by the light of divine truth, whether our religion is, or is not, in harmony with the Master's rule of life and action. If so, then yours must 248 * THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. fail; because the balance of truth will always ascend, while that of error must go down. “I said in the beginning of my control, that I would write first for the benefit of Spiritualists. Such has been my object in this and former articles. Some Spiritualists are too dog- matic to see that the churches have any good in them. This is because their eyes are blind to the truth, and their souls are too much filled with the tear-down idea, rather than to strengthen the weak parts of the grand old building, dinged and musty with the lapse of many ages, and darkened by the closing of the avenues of light. This has been done, by the watchmen on the tower crying that the age of miracles and spirit visitants passed away hundreds of years ago, and we live under a new dispensation. * “Watchmen, you ſail to discharge your duty, when the time- honored and God-baptized truth is not yet sounded to the world in tones of thunder. For it is this truth that will destroy materialism, and make the doctrine of the soul's immortality, which Spiritualism demonstrates, to rejoice the hearts of those hitherto wrapped in gloom and doubt. “Spiritualists, remember your duty, and follow in its line without murmuring or complaint. Though the world may frown and scoff, remember that your Master shared the same contempt, and made the kingdom. He said was not of this world, to be realized in the spirit-man.” NO. VI. “O, Thou great and ever-present Spirit, baptize Thy children, both spirit and mortal, while we commune together and wor- ship Thee from the inner sanctuary of our souls. Give to me, Thy delegated minister, power to shed into their hearts and minds this might the light which will enable them to compre- hend Thee in all Thy wonderful majesty and power. Help them to realize the impossibility of mortals to comprehend infinity, only as they accept God as their Father and Preserver; and as MySTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 249 & Thou dost command, they must obey without questioning the power which commands obedience. “My friends, you were discussing the ideas you have of God, or, rather, giving expression to the views you entertain of the Divine Being who created the worlds that roll in space, and every atom of matter, from the grain of sand upon the sea- shore to the highest archangel that He sends to superintend or direct the mighty machinery of His works. You must not speculate as to who or what God is, for you can not compre- hend the Spirit which fills immensity, but you can comprehend individuality. Hence, God in Christ reconciling the world is just what you can understand. “Christ was the form that God gave to the Spirit which was to manifest Him to the world. Christ, the principle of all good- ness, mercy, and love, was poured upon the son of Mary, mak- ing Him the Son of God, spiritually. In Him dwelt the God- head in that form which could manifest to the mortal under- standing the idea of God. To Him the disciples could ap- proach and learn.in language adapted to their understandings what the God they must worship required to make them the sons of God, as He was. “They did not, however, fully comprehend the relationship, and He addressed them in parable : ‘ I am the vine and ye are the branches,’ in Me the life-principle exists. From Me you must draw all that will make you wise unto salvation. If you abide in Me, and I in you, then are we one. The Father abides in Me and I in Him : showing definitely what the re- lationship was. “The Spirit of God was in Jesus Christ. From Him they were to learn those rules of action, and that holiness of life, which would make them “joint heirs' with Him, when they, by strict obedience, could claim the relationship. “Friends, it was not my purpose to control aſter the invoca- tion, but your conversation, to which I was a listener, prompted what I have written. Good-night.” II* 25C THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. No. VII. “My friends, I wish to give you some instruction on the point which seems to puzzle. It is in reference to the giving of names when communications come. I know the anxiety you feel, and in that anxiety you lose sight of the real design of spirit communion. It is not to merely give tests of iden- tity, but to teach you to separate truth from that which is false. “To do this, we must strive first to elevate you to that plane of spirituality which will cause your souls to hunger for spirit- ual development, rather than the knowledge of the spirit's identity. Were names always given, you would at once con- clude your friends bearing those names were present, when often the control assumes them to excite a curious spirit, and thereby lead you from the idea of spiritual benefit, and leave you to wonder why your friends do not say something to relieve all doubt, and rivet conviction upon the mind, that the truth of spirit communion is established beyond all controversy. “Spirits who thus assume names, often get them from your minds, and are not prepared to give positive proof of identity; hence, you are still left to wonder and doubt. Never attach importance to names, but always maintain passivity, and let the medium of any phase who may be controlled, feel that you are not curious, but anxiously seeking for light; and whether it comes at one sitting or requires more, that you are willing to wait, pray, and trust. God will give your angel friends power to satisfy you, just as soon as you are prepared to sepa- rate the chaff from the wheat. Much infidelity has crept into the minds of investigators by giving heed to seducing spirits. Vain philosophy has been another curse to Spiritualism. . Be not led away by these things—“covet earnestly the best gifts,’ and the more excellent way will be made plain by angel guides under God; He giveth the power. 4. “I do not wish to be heard on all occasions, but when I see MySTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 251 your minds in the wilderness of doubt, and that your curiosity rises above your desire for spiritual benefit, then I fly from my high and glorified condition, take upon my spirit that form of mortality which enables me to draw near and lead you out into green pastures, and by streams of pure and living water, that your hunger and thirst may be for spiritual good, and not to gratify a curiosity which belongs to the material plane. “There are many who, when they know others desire to look into their personal, private matters, will not give an item of in- formation. This is well, for idle curiosity should never be grati- fied. Spirits, you must bear in mind, feel, when disrobed of mortality, all their peculiar characteristics; hence, they refuse to give names, often from the utter indisposition to satisfy that which should not concern those seeking the higher life. “From the battlements of heaven spirits are beholding the turmoil and clamor which the world in suffering in this, the most distracted and wonderful age ever known to mankind. What meaneth all this distraction and commotion in the world P is the question that is agitating all thinking minds. The ques- tion is unanswerable from the mortal plane, but we who are disrobed of mortality, and see with spirit eyes, wonder why man does not seek the solution from the only source of knowl- edge. But, men will not learn of us, through our only means of instructing ; hence, we can not impart to them the knowl- edge which would make them understood why the scientific, religious, and intellectual world is in commotion. “Through this medium I can find access to many minds and hearts ; so I come, and, not without imperfectness, hurried- ly give to the world some thoughts or points for its considera- tion, There is much I could tell, because of my spirit being commissioned to bear tidings, of weal or woe, to the children of earth. But they will not heed admonitions until the brakes are put down, so as to change the train of thought, and let it switch off in the right direction. It is to do this that I have written articles addressed principally to Spiritualists; 252 THE REI.IGION OF SPIRITUALISM. for to them the trust is committed, as it was to the ancient Jews. * “When the ark moved, then all was well; but when it stood still, they knew something was wrong. When this discovery was made, they would live so as to remove the obstacle, and the ark would move again. Spiritualists, the ark is standing still measurably now, because you are not consulting the Urim of your souls upon which is written the cause of the stagnation. Your mediums are being detected in fraud, and why? Be- cause you are not praying, and thus surrounding them with the power or influences which come through prayer and consecra- ted souls. Such influences protect them from those evil spirits who come to earth, impressing and working to gratify the same passions that in earth-life prevented them from seeking God, and inquiring of Him the way of peace and salvation. The evil obsessions of mediums now are just those influences which Jesus Christ, by His holiness and wonderfully God-given power, CaSt OUlt. i “You must look to the inner man, and see why all this is so ; what it is in you that prevents the Spirit of God from entering in, and there abiding. To produce fruit of such a character as will induce the world to believe you are full of the Spirit of God, should be the one great object of life, so far as pro- claiming the truth to others which you so fully accept yourselves is concerned. The chief concern of life should be to keep your own souls in that state of spiritual fertility which will not require so much spasmodic labor to remove the thorns and thistles which choke the growth of the good seed sown by angel hands. “I love to talk to mortal pilgrims about heaven, and the joys which angels are ever ready to bestow, when directed by the Great Dispenser of all blessings. I love to tell them that their sufferings and sacrifices will, if made and endured patiently, and in the Spirit of the Master, work out for them a bright and happy entrance into immortality, and be as the MystERY's CoMMUNICATIONs. 253 diamonds which sparkle in the sunlight of glory. Now, my mortal friends will be ready to ask while reading of diamonds, if they exist in the spirit-world. I answer, yes; but not perisha- ble ones, like those you would toil a life-time to possess ; and, it may be, leave the long-desired treasure to the enjoyment of others, and thus ruin your soul and theirs in the dark sphere from which the rich man gazed upon the glorified and peaceful spirit of the earth-beggar. In tones of deep contrition and misery, he cried for one drop of water to be administered by the hand of him who lay at the gate hungry and wretched, while he (the rich man) grasped the glittering baubles that made his spirit–abode so dark. There is no truth which stamps itself more clearly upon the human consciousness, than that every sin and transgression shall, by the law of recompense, re- ceive its reward in kind. That is, every sin sown shall reap a harvest of sin. God teaches this in all His works, natural, spiritual, and moral. He is just, and will mete or measure to each soul according to its merit. “Faith in His justice and mercy does not relieve the trans- gressor from sins committed. They must be blotted out by suffering the penalty which is affixed to every sin, according to its greater or less magnitude. This is a subject of vast im- portance to mortals, and should be prayerfully studied, and made to control every thought and action of life. For, as surely as God rules and reigns, not one ‘jot or tittle of His law shall pass till all be fulfilled.” “Spiritualists are arousing from their lethargic dreaming and putting on the armor of God. It is thus they must be pano- plied for the war of aggression. They must be aggressive, or their conquests will not endure. They must first conquer the enemy within their own territory; which is love for the wonder- ful phenomena, to which undue importance is attached. Whilst they have their part in the glorious plan of man’s release from mental and spiritual thralldom, they constitute a very small part. Of themselves, they bring no enduring comfort to the soul. 254 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “Spiritualists who become absorbed in phenomena, regard the Church as an enemy to Spiritualism. Be not provoked, my friends, if Church people question the truth of your philosophy. Iight is the element needed, and they have a right to question the source from which it emanates, before being guided by it. The ignis fatuus light is not reliable. Be- fore the traveler has clearly seen his way, it is gone, and the darkness rendered more intense on acount of its, appearance. Such is often the case when the phenomena of Spiritualism are made the test of spirit communion. They lead the investigator into the wilderness, and he is lost from following the uncertain light they give. “I know there is antagonism between the spiritual philoso- phy and Church doctrines, as they have both understood Bible teachings, which lie at the foundation of all spiritual phenomena, as well as all Church theology. There are roads which diverge for a time, notwithstanding they eventually lead to the same destination. Thus it has been with the Church and Spiritualism. But the roads are coming nearer together now, and as the traveler advances he will find them still approxi- mating, until they unite in one plain, unmistakable route, which will be marked by angel guides, so that future pilgrims will have no difficulty in finding the way. Truth will light up the wilderness and marshy low-grounds through which millions have wandered, and often amid darkness and gloom, felt that God had given them over to the tempter, and withdrawn His Holy Spirit from them. ſº “We in spirit-life are rejoicing over the signs which indicate the return of the prodigal to his father's house, where there is enough and to spare of the bread of life ; where the soul can feast upon heavenly manna, each day and hour; where no spiritual hunger and thirst are felt, and where the ‘Sun of righteousness’ is ever shining upon the weary and worn pil- grim of earth, as he toils on amid the trials and ills consequent upon mortality. * MYSTERY'S COMMUNICATIONS. 255 “A few more exposures of fraudulent mediums and Spiritual- ists will learn how to draw the line between true and false phe- nomena; and will discover what is required to draw to their support that character of spirits who will manifest first to the spirit man, and elevate the soul to that degree of holiness necessary to commune with angels. Mediums may make con- ditions, and induce the curious mind to investigate, only to be detected in fraud, and to bring the blush of shame to their cheeks, and melancholy depression to their souls. Such will ever be the fate of false manifestations. But when mediums are educated by spiritualized Spiritualists, to know the wickedness of such things, rather than to indorse their frauds by credulous acceptance, they will cease to dishonor their holy calling, and become the vessels of honor God intends them to be, by the influences which He sends His angels to impart. “I intimated in the beginning that the Church was not in reality an enemy to Spiritualism. Her opposition comes from a misunderstanding of spiritual doctrine. Spiritualists are to blame for much of the Church antagonism, because they have not elevated the Spiritualism they claim to accept, to that plane which would render it attractive to those who have been edu- cated to a faith that says, “You must not think, for others more capable are thinking for you.’ It now remains for Spiritualists to offer to them a faith not blind, but illuminated by angels, who come to tell of the spirit's life in the home the Saviour entered to make the way plain by the Spirit of Truth, which He said would come to be their guide and comforter. Spiritualists have debarred many Church members from entering their com- munion because they have not studied the right means of mak- ing disciples; but have, by their enthusiastic zeal, tried to up- rpot forcibly, and in the spirit of contempt, the grand old tree that has stood the lightning's shock for ages, rather than to prune it up by gentle strokes; lopping off here and there the decayed branches, and thereby rendering the trunk more capa- ble of nourishing the green and living ones. 256 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “Your religion is not death; but life and immortality brought to light, after long struggling in the darkness created by a mis- understanding of the truth which flashes from the Bible when spiritually read, or when the spirit of its teachings, and not the letter, is made the rule of life and conduct. “As the superstitious and benighted Ephesians would receive nothing which detracted from the power and worship of their goddess Diana, so the Church ignorantly worships her creeds and ceremonies, because she has been taught that in them is life and light; and anything which antagonizes is in opposition to Heaven's laws, and must be condemned without a trial. “I said in the beginning that Spiritualists must be aggres- sive—war must be made first, against the enemy in your own territory. So amongst yourselves begin the fight, for your worst enemy is the want of spirituality in your own ranks. Cast out the devil that offers you the forbidden fruit. For I tell you, and wish I could make the words to sink deep down into your souls, that God desires not to be worshiped through phenomena. Only in spirit worship can you commune with Him, and find peace to your souls.” NO. VIII. “I thank Thee, O, Father for this another opportunity of communing with these, Thy faithful followers. They come to this holy place to seek light from Thee, and Thou, in good- ness and mercy, hast sent me to tell them Thou art forever, and forever, God. And none of Thy children are turned from . the fountain of light and knowledge who come seeking with pure and honest hearts. O Thou Holy Spirit ! the essence and power of God; which is manifested in all the works of Thy hands, let us, while we commune with these Thy children, seek- ing for the truth, be filled with Thy power, and enable us to make such revealments as will make them seek those higher conditions that will bring them nearer Thy angel messengers, MySTERY'S COMMUNICATIONs. 257 and through the light given to them, draw nearer to Thee, O God. Amen. “The ‘Stream which makes glad the City of God’ is to quench your thirst. ‘The Tree of Life’ is to satisfy your hun- ger. Its “leaves are for the healing of the nations.' These leaves are presented to you daily by the angel hands which are ever outstretched for your deliverance. The fruits which the apostle saw, and called “twelve manner of fruits,’ are pre- sented to you daily by angel missionaries, who come to en- lighten and feed starving humanity. These figures of speech were impressed upon the mind of the apostle, to give him the knowledge that the children of earth were fed and feasted upon heavenly things by spirits sent from God. The apostle thought the angel was God, so like Him was he in spiritual brightness and perfection. He had never had his spiritual vision opened before to the perfection and beauty of departed ones, whose earth-lives had fitted them for entrance into high and holy con- ditions. Hence, he believed the spirit who came and showed to him so much glory, must be the author of all things in earth and heaven. is “The spirit felt that the Giver of all these blessings must be worshiped, and not His glorified ones. To make the apostle understand that earth's children did rise nearer and nearer to God’s perfection, He told him who He was, and thus gave the first-tangible proof of the return of spirits, since the trans- figuration scene. º “The angel who appeared to Peter did not tell he was a de- parted spirit from the earth, hence Peter did not understand the whole of his mission, a part of which was to teach the soul's immortality in another state of being. Peter preached immor- tality without tangible evidence, just as ministers of the pres- ent day do. He was guided by spirit intelligence, in making declarations which gave him precedence, whenever the occasion demanded prompt and decisive action. Ministers are often misled in regard to what they should speak, because spirit 258 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. utterances are stifled by asserting their own individuality; or rather giving heed to educational discipline, while the spirit-im- pressing and bearing testimony with their own, answers no, and burnishes the truth with spiritual light. “Oh, how long will the heralds of Gospel truth wear the yoke of creedal bondage P when every day brings new light, which makes the enlightened soul of man cry, “Light, more - light.’” CHAPTER XX. REv. JoHN MOSS, LATE PRESIDING ELDER OF THE MEMPHIS DISTRICT. THE communications we give below need some explanation to a proper understanding of them. In 1872 he was the Pre- siding Elder of the Memphis District. When we presented him with a copy of “Clock Struck One,” in the Christian Ad- zocate office, in the presence of a number of preachers, he said with emphasis, “I would not believe that spirits returned to earth and communicated with mortals if God himself were to tell me.” © He had been on this District as Presiding Elder three years afterward, and frequently stayed with us while attending his quar- terly meetings. He passed over to the spirit land, and a large concourse of people attended the memorial service at the Cen- tral Methodist church near us. The meeting was protracted during the ensuing week and our home medium attended. On her return one night Mrs. Hawks was under control in our library. Soon as she was seated near the door the spirit an- nounced that Mr. Moss was with her and would communicate with us soon. He said he was much interested in the meeting, but had not seen God or Jesus. During our absence he communicated the following. At our regular family meeting he wrote the second communication: “The gospel of the new dispensation is peace and joy in the inner man. This peace is the result of that clear and con- scious indwelling of the Spirit of God which restores the image to the Divine and makes the human organism the temple of (259) 26o THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. His mighty presence. Spiritual life and energy never resulted from a quiet and inactive faith. He that doeth the will of my Father, the same is he that loveth me.’ “No man dieth to himself; neither can any man live to him- self and love God in the spiritual sense which Jesus intended to instill into the soul of man. I say work. I believed in work while in the body. As an evidence I practically made the religion I preached my rule of action. Work your way where faith directs. No faith was ever made perfect without the exercise of the mental faculty being demonstrated by the outward sign. “I am going to Conference and take my place in the cabinet. They will not hear my voice as in other days, but my influence will be felt by those who have the appointing power. They will make some changes which may not be the best for the people, still the law of the Church will prevail. I am with my preach. ers just what I was in the body, but they heed not the impres- sions I make because they are willfully blind to the subject of spirit intercourse as I was. I am learning the ways of God to man, according to the Spiritualistic belief, to be true in many respects, but they must learn, too, to leave behind much of the rubbish they have gathered up in their haste to grasp the jewels lying beneath. “The spiritual theory in regard to the spirit's destiny, when separated from the body, is true. Spirits good and bad breathe the same atmosphere in the spirit world. To the evil it is evil, and to the good it is good. God is God over all His works, and makes the laws He has unchangeably fixed, to praise and glorify Him by their harmonious action and results. Evil and good are opposites; but evil produces evil, and good produces good ; hence, I say the laws of God are harmonious in their action and results. “I will come soon and tell you at your home circle what I have learned in the spirit-world, and how my knowledge differs from my earthly faith and teachings. JoHN Moss.” . tº REv. JoHN Moss. 261 NO. II. “Well, Brother Watson, I have come to take all back I ever said that was offensive to you in regard to the subject which has so long been the idol of your life and honest en- deavors. You were right and I was wrong, when I uttered the blasphemous expression that I would not believe spirits re- turned to earth and communicated with mortals if God him- self were to tell me. Now, my brother, I have to atone for that shortcoming, for the reason that the law of recompense is inevitable, and must have its penalty served, before the trans- gressor can attain to the joys of heaven prepared for those who are prepared for them, by the laws of the spirit's own being. “I was present when all the sorrowing ones were assembled in Central church, to do honor to my memory. While I appreciated their respect and love, I could have told them those emblems of mourning did not truthfully represent the condition of the subject—that he was not dead, but one of their assembly, thinking how the world and the Church mis- understand the subject of death. “No death' has often been sounded from the ramparts of the spirit-world, and truly there is none. The testimony which Jesus gave when He arose from the dead and became the firstfruits of the resurrection, brought to life and liberty the prisoner who had so long been groping in darkness in regard to the nature of His mission, and what that mission established—life and immor- tality beyond the grave. - - “My entrance into spirit-life was just as bright as I ever imagined it would be if I, from an honest faith and life, kept the commandments of my Master. I, however, did not find a stone-built city, with golden streets and pearly gates, and the throne of God in the midst of that city, but I did find the ‘forty and four thousand' praising God who had given them the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I see the time coming, from the signs prevalent, when the Church will throw 262 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. off the shackles which have so long bound her advocates, and let them enjoy more liberty of faith and speech. When that is done her ministers will preach more with the spirit and under- standing, will be better prepared to instruct those who hear in the “mystery of godliness,’ and bring to the surface the light which has so long been obscured by the darkness of supersti- tion, and, I may add, heresy. The Church is more heretical, as I now understand the term, than the ‘spirits of just men made perfect’ teach. I will go now, but am coming again. I know your anxiety to hear what I have to say, for you consid- ered me a hard case, and true I was. My will was not to be- lieve what I considered false doctrine and faith ; hence, I could not receive the light that might otherwise have dawned upon my mind and made me to have understood the ‘faith once de- livered to the saints' as I now do. Good-night. “JoHN Moss.” NO. III. “Mark well the communication I make this morning. It is my purpose to reveal knowledge, which in earth-life I would have spurned as the offspring of the devil. Because I then believed him to be a personal intelligence, capable of trans- forming himself into an angel of light, for the purpose of de- ceiving men and teaching them to forsake God and to ridicule the divinity of the immaculate Son of God. “From these ideas and teachings the world has run into dis- torted and untruthful conceptions of the whole plan of redemp- tion, and the means which God employs to effect His provi- dential care and merciful regeneration of His creatures through these means. I do not come to publish to the world any new system of God's regenerating power ; nor do I come to state that the old process of getting to heaven has given place to an easier and better way. But I do come to tell those laboring to ‘see through a glass darkly,' that the darkness should, by the reflection from heaven, be made clear, and no longer be REv. John Moss. 263 the uncertain medium of transmitting the light of the knowl- edge of God. He sends His ministers as flames of fire, to purify and purge His creatures from superstition and spiritual darkness, and to bring them out into the marvelous light and liberty of the Christ of God. The Gospel of Christ will make you wise unto salvation, if it is made the ‘savor of life.' But to many it becomes the ‘savor of death,’ because of the obdu- rate and willful ignorance that keeps the heart from believing unto righteousness. “Many who read this communication will let their lips curl with scorn, and say, ‘Well, Bro. Moss must have changed from the faith by which he entered heaven, if the views he now com- municates set forth his present status.” Will say, too, ‘I don't believe that his spirit has left the high and blest estate into which he must have entered in spirit-life, if a useful and pious life here signifies anything or adds to the glory of spiritual en- joyment.’ “It is to such that I particularly address myself in this com- munication. While in the form I preached faith. I attach the same importance to it now ; but not from the stand-point I preached, and that from which my brethren preach now. Faith is the lever power of the spirit-world, and brings all things into harmonious action. Faith is the motive power to every success in earth-life. Faith leads us to put forth all our energies to accomplish the mission committed to us. Faith induces you on the mortal plane to exercise all your powers, physical and mental, when you engage in any enterprise. Hence, the Saviour placed that mental faculty in the front and foreground of all His mighty demonstrations of power, and taught His fol- lowers the power of its active and confident exercise. “By faith he meant to say in the power which enables the exercise of man's reason, and shows him what God made him to do, and how he is to accomplish his mission. Faith that looks not to the good of humanity, but lies idly down and waits to be rewarded, merely because it exists, is a dead faith. Not 264 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. even sufficient to prompt to one good act, and yet constant; with an abiding trust that the sufferings and death endured by the precious Son of God will save them, although they may never give evidence that His life wrought for them any benefit. Blind guide into the ditch you lead, which will be too dark for the sunlight of God to penetrate, until your faith is as large as a grain of ‘mustard seed,” which Jesus Christ said was sufficient to remove a mountain ; meaning the power of an active faith to remove difficulties, which prevents the Christian from mani- festing it in words of benevolence and charity. The mustard seed to which the Saviour referred, notwithstanding its little- ness, germinated and grew so large as to afford shelter to the birds which came and lodged under its branches: a beautiful illustration of the faith which Jesus Christ intended to teach His followers, as that by which they were to enter the place He was going to prepare for them. “I have learned much about faith since I entered the spirit- world, that would have sounded like heresy had I heard it preached from our pulpits while I was in the form. I have learned much, too, on other points, which I intend to give through this medium, for the benefit of my brother preachers. I may drop a seed here and there, which will germinate by the warming influences of God's Holy Spirit, and the genial showers of His grace. I know the soil is hard and unyielding, never- theless the plowshares must be borne down by angel power, until it is made productive and fruitful. Such elements must be imparted as will root out those that have, by their noxious influences, rendered it barren and worthless. My object is only to touch upon vital points, which theologians have obscured by refusing to think outside their church tenets; or by refusing to teach any other doctrine, think as they may. Some are thinking, and to a good purpose. The angel world is engaged in pressing thoughts into those minds who are not afraid of men, and will preach the Gospel of Christ as set forth in the close of His Sermon on the Mount. ‘He that heareth these sayings of REv. JoHN Moss. 265 mine, and doeth them, I will liken unto the wise man,' etc. He did not say it was safe to hear and not do, but always urged work rather than faith, which is dead of itself. JoHN Moss.” NO. IV. From a Memphian : “My dear friends, by permission of the spirit acting as con- ductor, I am here to-day, and with a strange sense of my own weakness, I attempt to communicate to you through a new and unfamiliar method. My duties while in the body gave me constant control of the pen, and I always found my brain act- ive and my hand ready to trace whatever my mind framed Not so now. I am at fault in every move, and the hand that wields the pen trembles and falls as if stricken with palsy. I find that I need to be guided and directed as a child while un- der the discipline of the instructor. I am still of earth; the attractions of life bind me to the old associates, and I can not disabuse myself of many things which troubled my mind during the last years of my existence. I cling with strong tenacity of feeling to all that were familiar to me when I walked as a man among men, and a constant desire to participate in the matters of life clings to me. & “I hear a voice It bids me seek beyond the outer portal, and the power to see will come, and with that power a knowl- edge of the way which leads from earth. “This is the first voice that has sounded from beyond the earth element, and with God's help I will strive to seek. “I am personally known to many of you who will peruse the words I now frame through the life of another being ; but the same reason which led me to keep my name silent in many of my published articles, renders me silent now. I am traversing through a new life, with a new body, but the man remains in- tact, I am the same, identically and individually, as when I walked your streets. No change, only in the material sub- I2 266 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. stance. The form which to my friends represented myself, is under the ground, while the individual man, the acting or pro- pelling power of what you term man, moves, acts, and thinks as when moving visibly in your midst, and finds every wrong of life acting as a retarding element against his advancement on ſhe road which leads to happiness. To explain to you : Have you noticed, when a sudden fog comes up and covers the land, how strangely dim and undefined everything appears P. It is so with me. . At my death I found a quick release from pain ; then there arose from a distance a fog which completely envel- oped me, and left all the surroundings undefined and misty. This, I soon learned, was my own condition, and the mist that enveloped me emanated from my own soul, and that I myself must lift the film from my eyes. I have striven to see clearer, and I find much of the mist decreasing ; but this constant de- sire for earth and earth matters keeps me still within the old sphere. I must make matters straight which I left unsettled, and place those who are dear to me in more happy circum- stances, before I can realize that perfect change which brings, to the soul complete happiness. l i “This is my first attempt to make anything public in regard to my position, and I hope my friends will excuse me if I withhold my name. Yours for the truth, .” “Now, Brother Watson, it is my turn. How glad I am to see the ‘silver lining’ of the cloud which has so long over- shadowed the truth of spirit communion. The Church people begin to see it, too; and the more they look at it, the broader and brighter will it appear, until the cloud will pass away, and the silver lining (by which I mean to symbolize the great light of truth) will guide them out of superstition and ceremony, as the pillar of fire and cloud guided the Israelites out of the will derness. I only come to let you know I am on hand, whenever good is being done. I lived for a good while in the body, and it is my aim now. John Moss.” "Rev. JoHN MANLY. - 267 I then asked what we should do to help unhappy spirits, to which was replied : “What have you always done for such spirits P The laying aside of the body does not make them Saints or devils. As you would help sinners in the body, help them out of the body. I am working to make them understand the atonement, so as to claim its benefits.” From Rev. John Manly: “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘I go away that the Comforter may come.’ The disciples did not understand this to mean, as it did, the baptism from the Christ heavens, which was both seen and felt on the day of Pentecost. The Christ heavens, where Christ dwells, and from which descends all spiritual bap- 'tisms, is the Holy of Holies into which the spirit enters when it has been purified from the faults and blemishes the sins of earth- life leave upon it. This is done by the laws which God or- dained for the soul's progression. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God as it comes from the Christ heavens upon the spirit-man when he lives in communion with his God and Cre- ator. The spiritual baptism came upon the praying Jews be- cause their souls by prayer were harmonized into that state of spiritual unity which Jesus said should bring the result desired, or blessings asked for. When the soul is longing and seeking for God then comes the spiritual baptism. “The spirit manifestations of the present-day are the means by which God intends to convert the world, when spirits so understand the laws of spirit as to enable them to manifest to earth ones in that way and manner which will add most rapidly to the success of Christ's kingdom on earth. This kingdom is within you, and when this is realized the spirit is continually baptized with that baptism which designated Jesus Christ as the Son of God. His spirit was in harmony with His Father, because He felt the baptism which comes from the Spirit of all spirits. 268 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “God’s plan of government is in delegated authority. Spirits come and testify the way of salvation, by explaining to you the spiritual condition of those passed from earth. By doing this you see the spiritual meaning of Christ's teachings. In these manifestations you see just what He said would follow faith in His Word. The effect of spiritual development is to bring your spirit in harmony with the plan of salvation, and enable you to comprehend the spiritual part of your being. When you comprehend how the spiritual baptism comes, then you will so live as to receive it through the natural channel which God cre- ated for the display of His goodness and care for His creatures. “When the spirit lives in harmony with the teachings of Jesus the trials and gloom incident to earth-life are counter- acted by the constant spiritual baptism which is felt and real- ized in the spirit-man. When He was about to leave His disci- ples He said, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled, the Comforter will come. Peace I leave with you. Peace I give unto you ; not as the world giveth, give I unto you.’ His peace is only to be realized in the obedience which He suffered; for God requires the sacrifice of the outward man that the ‘inward man may be renewed day by day.' When the outward part is not purified from the pure fountain within, the spiritual baptism is not felt, and gloom and trials await the man in spirit. Make the foun- tain pure and all the streams which proceed from it will be pure. Make the tree good and the fruit will be good. “The teachings of Christ are not the teachings of the minis- try of the present day. They take much that He said in a dif- ferent sense from that intended by the Nazarene in His preach- ing to the multitudes which thronged Him. Christian Spiritual- ism will be the religion of the Bible to the minds of Church believers when they better understand it. - “The time is coming, and not far away, when spiritual re- ligion will be felt as in the days of Christ and His apostles. The sick will be healed, the blind restored to spiritual sight, the dead will rise, when the spirit is increased by God's will to do REv. JoHN MANLY. * 269 it for the glory of His Christian Church. Man will be in the form of Christ when he lives as Christ taught him. His power will be like Christ's when he learns spiritually what Christ meant by ‘Ye shall do greater works than these.’ My Father will glorify His Son in giving the seal of sonship to the works that He said should follow them which believe. “Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the spirit. ual kingdom of the Jewish people. The promise to Abraham that “in his seed should all nations be blessed,’ was fulfilled in the doctrines which Jesus taught them who followed Him in the spirit of truth and honesty. He knew who were following Him with the desire to know whether His ministry was temporal or spiritual in its character. The mind of man at that time was directed to the temporal things more than spiritual deliverance from superstition and infidelity. He kept them in ignorance of His true mission until its fulfillment was near at hand; then He took Peter, James, and John upon the mount and showed them the glory of His doctrines by bringing Moses and Elias before them, as they should be in the resurrection from the natural body. His mission to earth was then perfected. Now the resurrection was established, it was necessary to make His doctrines manifest by the sacrifice of His humanity, and to ful- fill the Scriptures, that the people might know Him to be the one by whom the resurrection should be established; not that His sufferings could make the resurrection more certain, but to give power to the truth that only the spiritual body should rise and vanish as Moses and Elias had done. This was to teach them the will power of the spirit-man. Many did see His material- ized body, but believed it not, for their minds were too material to discern spiritual things. When He told the thief, ‘This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise,’ He meant the spirit would be with Him in the sphere of undeveloped spirits. He was with the thief and other prisoners, to whom He preached while the Roman soldiers guarded the grave which confined His natural body. He was sent for that purpose, that they might 27e- THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. believe the natural body rose until He could prove to them. the, spirit-body would be like it in the resurrection, made glorious by the power of the spiritual manifestation of God himself; made immortal by the spirit of law—manifested in the progres- sive spheres. “Those who live in expectation of a great throne, with the “forty and four thousand’ continually singing and heaven ring- ing with the song of Moses and the Lamb, will find a very dif- ferent occupation when they come over here. They will meet those who never did anything on earth for the love of God and His creatures ‘working out their salvation in fear and trem- bling;' others, who never.loved anything but self, keeping the spirits of the lower spheres in commotion by making them con- tribute to their selfish gratifications. Spirits are here just what they were there—nothing different but the absence of the ma- terial, body. Man is in spirit form exactly as in the natural form, but the spirit form is more electric, and develops much faster. Mind is more electric than matter; hence, the mind is more enlarged in spirit-life; this is why we can understand the things of God more perfectly. Man grows in spirit more rapidly than when trammeled with flesh and bone. Man is not changed by death, but only relieved of material resistance. This is why spirits can manifest independent of material laws. Man is like God in spirit when he lives Christ-like ; his heaven will be in proportion to the light he has within himself; it will be dark in proportion as he is spiritually dark. He will learn this as soon as he enters the spirit-world, but he can have light if he will seek for it. God sends His ministering angels to elevate fallen ones, and they progress only as their desires in- fluence the laws of progression. * “This is a subject for the study of Christians who believe in the literal resurrection of the material body. Christ never taught this idea; Paul taught the same Christ did when he said, “The first is of the earth, earthy, but the second is the Lord from heaven.’ Paul said, ‘Thou fool, except it die it is not , REv. JoHN MANLY. 271 quickened." How can that part be quickened which is dead? Spiritualism satisfies the manifest craving of earth ones for immortality, which is taught in the doctrines of Christ and His apostles. Ministers of the present day do not preach the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures. “If your eyes were open, as were those of the prophet's serv- ant, you would see that your ‘angel band’ had come to sym- pathize and comfort you, while moving through this vale of tears. Yes, and they “will meet you in the spirit land,' for “over there' they are ‘waiting and watching’ for you. “You, my friends, are looking for that which you may never see—angels coming in the clouds of heaven. But you can see and feel their presence more sensibly than you have ever done, if you will continue to pray and trust. God will never fail to fulfill His promise. He will withhold no good thing from those who love and fear Him. “I want to give you some idea, if I can control as I de- sire, of the land of Beulah—the land of glory, where God and angels dwell. Oh, you may well desire to see your future homes if you live in the fear of God; that is, in His service, doing His will on earth, as angels do it in heaven. The spheres of heaven, or the spirit-world, rise as do the coils of a screw ; and by the law of progression, move round, and always up- ward, if your spirit aspires to higher conditions. Above, is always shining the glorious light from the ‘mount of God,' whose summit is continually bathed with the light which the apostle, in his vision, called the Lamb. ‘The Lamb was the light of it.' Upon its summit stands the city which he called the ‘New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.' What is this city ? It is the homes of the disembodied, whose conditions give the variety you so often hear described. “Some spirits tell of their home as being built of stone, or material which it is impossible to describe. In earth-life you have nothing like it, because it is spiritual. It resembles what you would call crystallized granite, marble, or something akin to 272 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. * them. I tell you this, to give the best idea I can of spirit archi- tecture. Some tell you their homes are decorated with flowers and gems. This is the same as telling of the material resem- blance of their stone buildings. These things, or appearances, depend upon that which gives the spirit the most happiness. We have all things to make us happy and encourage aspira- tions to higher progress. “We are told by those from higher spheres, that our homes, beautiful as they appear to us, are nothing in comparison with the glory of those which nearer approach to the perfection of the temple of God, where cherubim and seraphim and the high and holy angels dwell. My friends, be constant in faith, dili- gent in good works, and your homes will be just what pure and useful lives in the earth sphere make for you in the spirit- world. Good-night. JoHN MANLY.” HEAR WHAT A SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE CLERGY. “I have never made an appeal to the ministers of the ortho- dox faith, but this morning feel so deeply the importance of so doing that I can not refrain. For my text I will take the language of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they preach, but often understand not the spiritual import of His teachings: ‘Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye can not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Now righteousness does not consist in conforming to church usages and the observance of church laws. If that had been the case Jesus would not have uttered the above language, for the Pharisees were perfect in all those things, even to the smallest minutiae. They were much more rigid than the churches of the present day, still Jesus branded them with hypocrisy, and told them that harlots would go into the kingdom before them. This would be a very bold assertion for one to make now, in regard to members and ministers who believe themselves sanctified. They do not believe it, for too well aware are they of their own shortcomings. When I say ministers I mean those WHAT A SPIRIT SAITH. 273 * who condemn what they know lieth at their own doors. More polluted are they than the objects of their condemnation, since they make clean the outside when there is rottenness with- in. By the expression, lieth at their own doors, I desire to cause their minds to turn to the inner man, and see if spirit accusation is unjust. When spirit bears witness with spirit the testimony is reliable. Brethren, many of you piously condemn that which is a mere mote, when brought in contrast with the beam in your own eyes. Oh, ye blind leaders of the blind, ‘first cast the beam out of your own eyes, then shalt thou see clearly to pull the mote out of thy brother's eye.” “Ye men of science and philosophy, who scorn the spiritual, and tax mind and body to develop the hidden laws of nature, and thus teach how God deals with the material world, must not stop at this, but let your investigations turn to the inner man. You will there find laws more refined and spiritual essence with which they are connected a better book for teaching the ways of God to man, and the nature of that part which is linked to him by the laws of his own being. Spiritualism is uncover- ing more of the hidden laws which control the spiritual part of God's creation, than any other science or philosophy can do ; hence what has been a mystery throughout all ages is now be- ing brought to light through spiritual knowledge. The spirit- man has been aroused and seeks those truths which Jesus Christ taught, and the result is the consternation and morbid opposition of the clergy, whose business has so long been to think for the mass of mankind, and tell them what their duties are. Brethren of the clergy, I come to you through this me- dium, who is honest, and striving to reach that plane of purity which will make her a beacon light of Christian Spiritualism. I come to you through her organism to teach you the fallacy of thinking you are the commissioned ones to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when the truth is, many of you preach your own gospel, and Jesus is not made the expounder of His own teach- ings as He was upon earth. Your own minds are set forth in I 2* 274, THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. well-arranged discourses which call forth the admiration of your hearers for the time, but when your voices are hushed they go their ways, not thinking what manner of men and women they are. This is because you have not preached what many of them believe to be the truth; consequently your labor is lost, and you and your hearers, both and all, are like the un- stable waters of the sea, casting up mire and dirt, because of the need of spiritual light. The creeds of your churches are grievous burdens, and borne only because they are popular. Jesus Christ's religion was not popular because it came from God, and no man can see God who does not by spiritual dis- cernment. The spiritual philosophy is unpopular because the spirit-man is in bondage, and can not worship God according to his own conscience. The Church claims his worship, and he dare not launch out in search of spiritual truth without offending his Church, and the cry of devil, wicked spirits, and all those monstrosities which for ages have bound man to slavish worship being raised, and anathemas hurled against any theory which antagonizes, their authority. This worship is not from an enlightened conscience, but worship which men equally dead in trespasses and in sins dictate to him as the worship of his creator, God. Brethren, the time is coming, has already come, when men and women will throw off the yoke of bondage and put on the yoke of Christ, which He said was easy and light. “There is no language by which the human mind can receive the correct idea of the prisoner's hell—prisoners, the character of whom Jesus preached to, while the disciples regarded Him dead, and their hopes of deliverance blasted. He told His dis- ciples He came to seek those that were lost. He did seek them in their dark abode, and offered them the same salvation He gave to those who followed Him in the regeneration. By regeneration I mean to convey the idea of spiritual develop- ment. Regenerated and born again. Regenerated from the bondage of materialism to the faith once delivered to the WHAT A SPIRIT SAITH. 275 saints—to the faith of Abraham, who believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness. His righteousness was not of faith alone, but was perfected by the works which his faith manifested. Now my clerical friends of the nineteenth century preach of Abraham's faith and how he served God, yet their service being under a different dispensation, must be of a dif- ferent character. They tell you the animal which Abraham offered in sacrifice was pure. God's plan of interposition is through the agents whom He sends to do His work. They tell you the miraculous interpositions of God have all passed away. Why should they believe this when He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever? If this be true, and it is, then why should they think He changes His plans or means of executing His laws for the accomplishment of any particular purpose P. His purposes are fixed and immutable, as are His laws for carrying those purposes to their legitimate ends. Miracles are only the result of faith in God, and His power to perform through His agents the mighty and seemingly in possible works; hence Jesus said to the afflicted, “Do you believe I am able to do this?’ He knew He possessed the power, for He had faith in Him by whom He was sent, and yet He could not and did not perform mighty works only as the laws which controlled His power were obeyed—which were, faith on the part of the one to be benefited, in conjunction with the faith that Jesus had in the power which sent Him to make that power known, and God glorified by the manifestation. “Now, what is the manner of rendering service by those of the present day claiming to be especially commissioned of God? They do not believe, as Jesus did, that faith will cause the heavens to open, and visible manifestations of God's power to fall upon their congregations. This to their understandings would be a miracle, and they belonged to past ages; hence they labor strenuously to get up some high-sounding exhortation, and dig deep for some argument by which to convince their hearers that something is true which they themselves are not 276 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. capable by the laws of mind of comprehending, and conse- quently they can not make comprehensible to those they pre- sume to instruct. When their intellectual efforts fail to arouse their sleepy hearers to a knowledge of the truth, then they at- tempt to reach their emotional natures by relating the great struggles which the Christian martyrs endured for Christ's sake, and how He suffered for the world's redemption. This is the style of preaching now, but Jesus did no such work as this. He went forth to His Father's work believing He was sent to the lost Israelites for their return to spiritual worship and serving of God, not from the external, but from the internal—from the spirit, which bears the image of God's own divinity. He be- lieved He would accomplish that work by the power of God, and by God's own manner of saving His creatures. Miraculous manifestations, as some believe, followed His ministry. He did not call them so, but spake with the full assurance of His word being obeyed. Thus He cast out unclean spirits, and re- stored the spirit-man to that condition susceptible of develop- ment, and like the oil of purification which the Psalmist re- ceived upon his head, did the influence of Jesus rest upon those who flocked in multitudes to hear Him. He did not call in help to aid Him in producing such a flood of magnetic power as to benumb the senses and excite the nervous organism, so that many would be converted whether or not. But He fol- lowed on from place to place, and in His own soul felt that assurance which God alone gives to His laborers, that the har- vest would be in proportion as the laws for seed-time were obeyed. “Brethren, you stand aloof from the investigation of the grandest philosophy God has ever given to the world—the brightest dispensation ever enjoyed; the very culmination of the Mosaic, prophetic, and Christian dispensations. You fail to go into the kingdom spiritual, and you keep others out who would, but for the iron-bound creeds and dogmatic theories of the Christianity you profess to observe and understand. WHAT A SPIRIT SAITH. 277 You are leading the blind when you are more blind than they. Your blindness and theirs would be dispelled and all be gloriously bright, if you would step into the pool while the angels stir the waters thereof. You are waiting by the margin as the man of old, to have the truth forced upon you by the interposition of a yet stronger power. That power will come, and should you pass to spirit-life before it does, you will have to return to earth and cancel the false teachings you are giving to the world just because you will not have light and liberty. The stone which the builders rejected became the head of the corner. So you will see the noble and all-saving structure of Christianity has been made to tremble and well-nigh fall, be- cause of the corner-stone being removed from the setting which Jesus and His apostles fixed. “I have done, but must exhort in conclusion, that you think less about worldly applause and manufacturing fine and eulo- gistic discourses. God requires none of these for His honor and glory. Look to the development of the inner man, which must be restored to the image of God, or he can not live in His spheres of love, glory, and endless beatitude.” CHAPTER XXI. SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS. FROM Brother E. C. Slater, D.D., pastor of the First Meth- odist church in Memphis, Tenn., who passed away by yellow fever in 1878: “BROTHER WATSON :--It is natural that the condition of the home I loved, and the people whom I served, bring to me asso- ciations which cause me to communicate with you. Aside from the enjoyment of that communion, I feel strengthened when I am with you and mingle my thoughts with yours, for they are kindred, so close is the connection. No wide differ- ences in our opinions—not even before I departed from my earthly habitation. “Our ideas now, which are considerably in advance of the public and popular opinions of the day, are buds just unfold- ing, and the exchange of abodes only tends to unfold those petals more rapidly. “While you are wandering through the shadows of the vale, and tears of Sorrow fill your eyes, and pangs of grief pierce your heart, and fond hopes of future happiness often crushed, and disappointments and perplexities of life gather and meet you on the journey; and while your footsteps are becoming somewhat less elastic with youthful strength, and nature is giving way to the infirmities of age, and friends are given and taken, you are still assisted by all that is hopeful, bright and promising, to travel on through this vale, and feel that you have an inheritance beyond, where you will not come in contact with any of these (278) SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS. . 279 things, remembering that you will have no more to bear than you have grace to support. “My grace is sufficient to bear you up in the precious prom- ise given ; I will guide, guard, direct, and comfort you’—a promise freighted with all that is required to cheer and build you up. To-day you sorrow ; to-morrow, this influence is so soothing, you are resigned. Don't give up ; look forward to a happy life in the bright summer land of joy. I used to think my life was one of checkered scenes, hardships, and toil, but I find that my reward is a sufficient compensation for all I endured. “SISTER WATSON:—I love to see you indulging in so great a sacrifice for a benevolent and purely Christian work. Such will derive more benefit from your labors and gifts than all else you might do. It is a general benevolent work,” and many will enjoy the benefit thereof. Work for the needy. Be mer- ciful and kind to the fallen ; help all that call upon you who are deserving. Clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and you will find that your heart will be filled with more love to God, and that you will enjoy peace of mind that is not afforded under other circumstances. One service to the prisoner, to the sick—one cup of water—will do more for your own spirit- ual development and happiness in the future than services attended in form and ceremony. . “I felt deeply for the poor and suffering class of our loved city, and contributed all I could, and no more could any one do. I laid down my life for them. I am enjoying a glorious recompense for it; and so will you. There is much contributed here to make us happy, but yet not enough to make us su- premely so. We can only enjoy it to the amount we deserve, and that is sometimes very limited. “I did what I felt to be my duty. I cared for the dying, * * The Home for the Reformation of Fallen Women, which has ac- complished much good for that unfortunate class of humanity. º 28o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. and bathed the scorching body, and poured the oil of consola- tion into many a heart-stricken mourner, and followed them to their last resting-place. “I always did my duty when I knew it to be my duty. I am happier from the reflection, and want to attain to a higher de- gree of love. I am still working in the vineyard of the Lord, and hope soon to meet many of my old associates. “Oh, I am grieved to see so little being done for the general good of humanity. Our duty should not stop in the sacred desk nor humble assembly of Christ's worshipers. Ah, no ; but many act as though it did. You should not bestow alms to be known of men, nor to have words of praise resounding through the highways, but in the quiet, unobtrusive manner dispense your good deeds. “Bro. Watson, you are preparing a wonderful book, that will speak for you when you fail to exist on earth, of the extent the knowledge we have of it. I do want that book to elevate the Spiritual doctrine above its present standard. I want all clouds, darkness, obscurity, and opposition to be hurled from it as far as the east is from the west, and come forth in its purity and soul-comforting power. Go ahead, and finish it as Soon as you can practically. “There are so many works now in circulation that some dis- couragements may assail you, but I don’t know that you need fear that. “I was just wondering if we could influence you, to write and help you. Now, go on ; I will assist you. “E. C. SLATER,” “My employment is simply what would interest me mostly, and while many think that at the hour of death we are divested of all our earthly desires and qualifications, and that we embark into an endless future, there to dwell in glory or misery forever, is a great mistake. I labored for the good of my fellow-creatures, to enlighten them—to save them from an endless torture. SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONs. 281 We die with that love and desire only increased, for we see to what extent we did good, and also see where we may do more. I am still laboring for the elevation of spirits who are in regions of darkness and need the light to guide them. This is partly my work, and also to impress all you who are susceptible of any influence. I am engaged in trying to .do all the good I can. The position I have attained is one mostly from the lower class. I talk with them—I plead with them. You will find that the two worlds are closely allied. I promise to write at length upon these matters, and satisfy as well as gratify you in regard to the world of spirits. E. C. SLATER,” “BRO. WATSON:—Although my cup of happiness is very nearly full, yet it is enhanced by meeting with those whose purity of lives and chastity of character fill me with a stronger degree of love and gratitude, and fill my soul with an inspira- tion which would naturally emanate from such a source. Strange it may seem that contact with such is a benefit to us. There is a condition or state beyond which many have reached, and our hope is that sometime we shall reach that happy, heavenly place, and be among the number who enjoy the full fruition of that blessed state. I am still laboring for the good of mankind, in the reformation of the poor, erring one. I do not, however, see so many objectionable traits in character and points of Christian belief. They are presented to me now as being very different to what I thought years ago. I can not recognize, as I did, objectionable articles of belief, for I now see so plainly an erroneous method of instruction, and I hope to see a change. Time is weaving a network of changes, and these will ultimately bring improvement; though not so considered by earthly mortals now. “I have been around and about you at your time of com- munion previous to this, but I could not accomplish what I desired, and now my efforts, I hope, will not be in vain, for I. want to say some things at this time which will interest you. I 282 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. have left my feeble frame with the things that perish; but that which is immortal still lives and shall never die. I am now in a world'-of activity, not of folded arms and clasped hands, weary feet, and closed lips, but where the soul expands and re- ceives the fresh nourishment good for its spiritual development, and where I can enjoy free and heavenly thoughts of the power and proper intentions of a mind untrammeled by the Sur- rounding scenes and circumstances. I am very happy in this, my new and varied field of labor, which a life-time of patient endurance and toil has brought to me. I did not sail on the ocean of life on flowery beds of ease, but whilst I often smiled at pain I can now see and enjoy the recompense. Oh, that I had done more for the cause of Christ. One who enters this new and beautiful world will always feel that their enjoyment and degree of happiness depends upon a well and carefully spent life. I can now see more fully what I have endeavored to impress upon all who attended my ministry, while laboring on earth : the necessity of a godly and Christ-like walk, in order to secure future happiness. “With a limited degree of wisdom, and with a failure to im- prove the talents and time endowed, the amount of enjoyment is greatly enhanced. Each is carefully considered and meas- ured, and many are found wanting. I can not give you now a description of my entrance, nor of my home. It is not really as I had thought it would be. The scenery as described in the bible is quite accurate, but the language there does not satisfy me. No one can tell of the superb grandeur and beauty of our blessed home. I would gladly draw the dear, loving and lovely children to me if I could ; but their time is not yet at hand, and we yield to the laws which govern all these things. We know the world will seem dark, cold, and lonely without us; but we hope they will not forget, or cast aside lightly, the counsel of their father, and the tender and loving advice of their mother. I still hold in fond remenbrance dear old “Wesley' Church; and why should I not, when I labored so SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS. 283 + * ! a - - ; r. # * , .* * hard for its prosperity, and with my determination to die at my post, resulting in the great sacrifice which was made, and if I could express one-half I feel, I should be satisfied that I had said enough. “My spirit hovers near the old home of earth and the pleasant associations so dear to me; but all these things do not make me less happy. We are not alone in trying to influence our earthly friends to join us in our beautiful spirit-home. We are your ministers, endeavoring to incline your hearts unto good thoughts and works, that you may be happy in the hereafter. ' ' . . “ E. C. SLATER,” ; P R A Y E R . “BRO. WATSON:—I am here listening to your expressions upon the subject under consideration at this hour, and I want to say that, even with my short experience in my new life, I am endowed with a more correct idea of what the Church desires and the world needs. There is a tendency already in that direction—a mighty reformation is going on in the Church—there is a power unrevealed operating upon the minds of the intelli- gent, thinking class. This change is more perceptible in the construction placed upon many leading features in the funda- mental articles of belief. The construction is not to-day what it was many years ago. The ministers do not preach nor ex- pound the Scriptures in the same way they did. Their inter- pretation is not the same. I am not speaking despairingly, nor do I wish to be understood so, for I believe there will ulti- mately be made manifest a great demonstrative spiritual de- velopment in Christ's kingdom. The hearts of men will be drawn nearer to His cause, and love and harmony will universally reign supreme. But I must here impress upon you the great lever which is to sustain and support you, and which is the mighty power by which this is to be effected—it is prayer. There is nothing more essential to bring the result so much needed by the Church than fervent prayer, good works, faith, and patience; 284 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, more zeal in Christian work, and a greater desire to assist others than yourselves; for in thus doing you are greatly bene- fiting yourselves. There is too much selfishness. You should stretch out your arms and endeavor to bring those whom you see indifferent to good works, and point out to them the neces- sity of thinking, acting, and trusting in the promises already given to those who imitate the example of Jesus. He came among you performing good works, humble in manner, free from Ostentation, thus manifesting simplicity in all things. You are taught to pray, and be not weary in well-doing, and encour- aged by precious promises. “Prayer will bring to you what is best for your temporal and spiritual good. We feel the power of prayer, and see that it is still needed in our progression in divine life. Prayer does not cease in the earthly life, it extends beyond the grave. I see the power manifested more since my entrance in my spiritual ex- istence, than I thought I should. Indeed, I was ignorant of the fact. I see now more fully why professing Christians often become careless and cold, and complain of not enjoying that degree of happiness which is their privilege to enjoy. It is because they neglect prayer. They become too much en- grossed with worldly pursuits and gain. Their religion assumes the form and lip service too much for their spiritual advance- ment. t “Christians must pray more, that the world may be brought to the knowledge of the Saviour. Too much preaching and too little praying. God is willing and waiting to help all who ask, and there is nore necessity for earnest asking now than ever before. I pity a minister when he addresses a prayerless audience. He derives no strength sufficient for the trial. Brayer tenders the ties of life and binds them closer, by the holy penetrating influence it imparts. We, too, are greatly benefited by your prayers. This is a truth I could not assert until I passed over, and now I realize it. E. C. SLATER.” SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS. 285 * “BRO. WATSON:—There are throngs of spirit friends, and many who are strangers to you in the flesh, visit you in your earthly mansion, whose influences they exert over you are pure, true, and holy. They are beings once wearing the man- tle of the mortal, but now immortal; once claiming good at your hands, now trying to impart the same to you ; once ask- ing for food and raiment, now trying to clothe you with the mantle of holiness; once asking for the bread of life, now feed- ing you with manna from the heavenly land, giving you words of counsel and admonitions upon subjects pertaining to your pres- ent life and the one which is ahead. You have many to rise up and call you blessed. “Now, my dear Brother, be of good cheer, and go on, you shall have your reward. ‘Be ye perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ The way seems rough and stormy at times, and the pathway dark to many, yet I imagine there are many clouds to obscure your view, but you can look ahead and see a bright and glorious future. You keep your lamp trimmed and burning, and have constantly that beacon light to guide you. “Now, whilst I am picturing to you what I see from the light I have to guide me in my ideas concerning you, I can but draw the contrast in my case. My labors were not in vain, my in- tentions were acceptable, and did do good, for which I am now rewarded. My words were not as pearls cast before swine, but as bread upon waters, to be seen for many days hence. I see the result of my influence. I can see where I have sowed seed in good ground, and am happy from that ; but, on the other side, I can also see where I erred, and failed to improve my talents, and to even allow the proper expansion of my ideas on many subjects. I kept them suppressed, though painful in the extreme ; but I was of the earth. I can see now where I was amiss. My memory serves me still, and sets enthroned, and much to the reproach of a neglected useful career, which might have been my glorious delight in this my new life. I am 286 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. happy, and yet I am only sufficiently so to enhance the ex- treme desire to be more so. I am still working. The lover of God, His works, and fellow-creatures, in both worlds, stim- ulate me to an active life, even beyond the vale, and we are never satisfied. There is an eternity; there is no end to our love, our joy, and bliss. We leave the earthly to come to a better and fairer world, prepared for enjoyment to the extent we merit. We are not satisfied; our souls yearn for something better and purer, and we ascend to heights of joy, and we drink from the fountain, and are still thirsty for the living water. There is a stream which makes us glad. We wander along its banks and quaff from its pearly waters and feel re- freshed. Brother Watson : when I look back to my checkered life, and remember the cares, trials, and disappointments inci- dent to that life, I am glad that I felt them, for I was purified in the furnace and prepared for the reward which was in wait- ing for me. I did not see it then as I do now. Nor would I have had one less. I want these things to loom up before me, that I may constantly keep before me the goodness, the mercy, and justice of God and His messengers, who were my guar- dian friends. God works through angelic ministry in many ways unknown to you. Many impute the accidents, fail- ures, and afflictions to the power of Providence, when, in reality, as I now see it, it is from the violation of natural laws. You believe, and are correct, that there is a special protective power over and about you, yet, when you trifle with the natural laws, you are often beyond the control of this power. There are many subjects upon which my mind was in uncertainty and doubt, but which have been made clear to me. I have many missions, and service in good works knows no abatement; nor would I be happy if I did not work. When your earthly career is ended, and you come over, how happy we shall be. E. C. SLATER.” SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONs. 287 “BRO. WATson :-Many months (as you estimate time) have passed since I have enjoyed the delightful privilege of communion with my dear friends of your happy family. It has been no fault of yours; but the circumstances of the present constrain me to an effort to control the medium suffi- ciently to express myself satisfactorily. Earth-life has charms for its inhabitants, although freighted with sorrows and trials of varied caste, yet there is a desire to cling to it. There are a few, comparatively speaking, who wish to exchange their mode of existence, even without having a perfect knowledge of what that change might bring to them. They feel, certainly, that their condition would be improved ; but, alas ! they know not what awaits them in the future life. The earthly career is never a moment longer than it is necessary, and though some are called to a premature birth into the new life, yet it is to be regretted. “My work was unfinished, my course was not run, that I might have enjoyed more of the ineffable bliss of my mansion beyond the earth. I had done what I thought I could, but by my life having been prolonged, my eyes would have been more widely opened and my knowledge would have increased, and the shell or casket which contained me would have severed, and I would have explored more extensively in the gratifica- tion of my senses, for whilst a man may restrain from any ex- pression of advanced ideas, or hesitate to express what he be- lieves for fear of public condemnation and of being utterly ignored, yet the convictions and enjoyment of this knowledge can not be longer smothered, but will eventually burst into a flame of fearless and undaunted ardor, and a determination to speak out his conviction of truth and right overcome all trepi- dations, acting boldly, without fear of man, but with the assur- ance of the favor of God. My mind was undergoing a process of change, in my opinion, upon many subjects, which I believe will in some future day be received by the world. I see rapid strides in all the churches, digressions from the old way; lib. 288 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. erality in sentiment and in government indicate a great revolu- tion ahead. I was not ignorant of these facts while an inhabi- tant of the earth plane. The doctrine of spirit intercourse I did not ignore as being possible, though I did not fathom its depth in my investigations, therefore could not advocate it as a brave man should have done. I see and understand the philosophy of it now, and desire to proclaim its truth to the world. E. C. SLATER. CHAPTER XXII. REv. P. T. SCRUGGS was a Methodist preacher for about forty-five years. He was judge of the criminal court when he died in 1878. This was written soon after Judge Scruggs passed over from yellow fever in 1878: “BRO. WATSON:—Though feeble, I am enabled to come to you if it is only to announce the name which has been so familiar to you for many years past. I am happy to say to you that I am one among many who can testify to you the truth of spirit communion. I realize the truth of what you affirmed. I know I have made myself manifest to my wife. She has felt my presence, and I confess that I have been near her much of the time since my departure. I have traversed the spiritual world, and gratified my desires to see and know much of the new world to me. I wish I could have strength to say what I feel constrained to this evening. I shall realize my desire sometime. I have been here before, but have not made my- self known. You were acquainted with the views I formerly entertained upon this subject—that I was skeptical; but, hav- ing passed into the spirit-world, or rather having thrown off the mortal covering, I see things very differently. My spiritual • vision unfolds to me what I had long desired to know. I shall continue to develop and progress in knowledge, and give you the benefit as best I can. Your old friend, “P. T. SCRUGGS.” “BRO. WATSON :—I attended you on last Sabbath afternoon, and was very much strengthened by the association with the T3 (289) 290 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. individuals with whom you met, and also admit that the address or exhortation given was good, and was bread for spirits as well as mortals. It was as manna coming from the holy spheres; and though there was much said which accorded with my views, there was some which did not. I will here admit that I have not progressed sufficiently to abandon some of my old orthodox views. I believe that now is the beginning of the millennium, and that the old kingdom is being transformed. A great revo- lution is dawning. Now, what this will eventually bring to light I have not yet been able to discern. I believe the doc- trine of spiritual communion will be universally received, and the Church creed, where it refers to ‘communion of saints,’ will not be mere lip expression, but accepted as meaning spirit intercourse, where spirits mingle their feelings with each other and where influence sways its mighty power over earthly loved ones. This precious truth, which is revealed to you and many others, and can and will be to many more, in the course of time, is gradually invading the homes of many with whom prejudice and fear of public opinion have bid defiance to its entrance; and its hallowed influence, blessed by a Christian affinity, tends to direct you in a correct and happy walk through your earthly life. • . “Your manner of living either attracts or repels a good and happy spirit. We are sensitive to the magnetism which attends you. As many mortals may trifle with the Holy Spirit and for- bid its entrance, so we can be repelled by the impression im- parted to us that we are not desired or needed. A life of up- rightness and purity is necessary. Oh, that I could impress this truth upon all ! P. T. SCRUGGs.” - * “BROTHER WATSON :—I shall not feel that I have related much of importance or interest to you until I tell you of the new home, new body, and happy life. “The home is one for the soul, and the associations are spiritual. It can never be less happy than it is, as harmony REV. P. T. SCRUGGS. 29I does and always will unchangeably exist. No gilded walls, with pictures hung, nor earthly splendor shines, but where love exists, and where we feel the presence of our Saviour abiding with us, and where loved ones meet and mingle their tenderest feelings of souls that have been purified by this holy influence —this is my happy home; and the emotion of joy is very great, for I feel that I can dwell in constant peace at home. JNo cankering cares, no separations; no wail of woe from the unhappy ones, to disturb the tranquillity I enjoy in my abode. “Now, I shall digress to speak of my form—a subject which interests you very much. I am possessed of a new body— one without deformities and feebleness, not even wearing the traces of affliction and age. I can but wonder now how I could have ever lived as I did, and cheerfully did I depart from my old, weary, worn, and tattered frame, when my spirit took its flight to the spheres of an unknown world. “While it is moldering into dust, I am happy, and am now the real man, untrammeled by the garb of earthly human flesh. How erroneous the idea of clinging to the old body, which is only temporary, and which perisheth. I have a spiritual body which was given me at death. I can now see, Brother Wat- son, how utterly ignorant one can be before entering the reali- ties of the untried state. “I am happy to be with you to-night as a new-born spirit, and as a new stalk of corn from its cell. I can go to and fro, hav- ing strength and activity. I can go on missions of love and mercy. I am often present as a guardian protector to my loved ones. Death only opens the door to a new life. It does not correct mistakes in life. You will awake to the conscious- ness that you are in a new state, and one which you merit by your course of conduct while on earth. The new body is not alone, but is blessed in the companionship of loved ones, who have only awaited its exit from the earth sphere. “Brother Watson, I hope to enter into details more fully at some future time. PHINEAS T. SCRUGGS.” 292 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “BROTHER WATSON:—I am gaining heights in the happy spirit land—am realizing more fully the depth of gratitude and extent of purity than I had when I last met with you; and it may seem strange that my contact with you assists me very much. One would suppose, whose mind had been in darkness relative to the truth of some subjects, or what was in the be- yond, that when the spirit left the body, which it does at the time of death, it enters into the unchanging joys of heaven, never to mingle with the beings which still inhabit the earth; but this is not true. There is an error which has been revealed to me since my entrance, much to my astonishment, for I be- lieved I would awake in a place called heaven, where all was beautiful and grand, and I would see the Saviour, and adore Him, as we would a king on his throne—pay homage to Him, as we would to a sovereign ruler; that we would fear to offend His majesty, and that we would bow submissively to His will. Oh, what a delusion l and I wish I could proclaim to the world the wonderful changes which my departure revealed to my astonished view. I laid down my mortal to put on the immor- tal; I threw off the old mantle, and appeared in the new and real being. I saw that I had been sadly erroneous in my ideas of the new life or new birth. I hardly knew myself. I came forth in vigor and spiritual strength. I came forth in the youth of manhood. I was free from the debility of declining nature; I was as a bud just blossomed in its perfectness and beauty. I then saw that at death I was perfectly disrobed. My mantle fell ; I embarked into a sea of unknown realities, and soon dis- covered that my work had not ended, but had just begun. I saw a field wide in expanse, and all were engaged in work for their heavenly Father, and I soon saw that I must do like- wise—that I had been too much engaged in looking after the material, to the neglect of the spiritual. I asked, Why is this constant effort? the reply, We are just beginning where we left off in the earth-life, and we must first merit what we shall after- terward enjoy. I then entered the field as a laborer, and REV. P. T. SCRUGGS. 293 find that I have to improve the neglected talents. My brother, there is no one standing by the way idle; but we find much to do. I revert to the time I spent in the office of minister for Christ, and they were the most useful days of my life on earth ; but when I commenced to contend and engage in worldly pur- suits, I see where I misapplied my gifts, and deserve no re- ward for it—consequently enjoy no degree of happhess for that. I permitted the material above the spiritual to engross my thoughts and attention. There is a grand sublimity in the period of man's life called death. His body the covering which is laid aside and prized only for its service for many or few days of existence, and the perfect model comes forth, as it were, in a real and perfect form. I am now prepared to give this as my experience, and it has, of course, been established as such. When I passed over I soon saw that I did not have to wait for the resurrection, but that it was waiting for me, and that I felt the change instantly in entering the world of activity, which all will find at their expiration of time on earth. I shall no longer discuss this subject, but find it to be a fact. The resurrection is the theme which is often discussed, and has varied phases of belief. It is now the simplest truth ever pro- claimed to the world, and, like many other subjects, almost worn out with unprofitable discussions. “I want my friends to know what I have seen, heard, and know with my own spiritual senses, which do not deceive me. We do retain enough of our own natural elements to ren- der ourselves recognizable, or else the comforting thought and reality of heavenly recognition would be abandoned, and heaven would not be the happy place it is. The spheres are attained by constant prayer and effort, and though some may not meet and mingle with each other continually, yet they see and know each other. We are happy in the work of elevating others. I hope, Brother Watson, you will be benefited in the revelation I have made this evening. P. T. SCRUGGS.” 2.94 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. From Judge Hall: “MR. WATSON :—Having given you my ideas in a previous article concerning some important topics, I shall only indulge a few random thoughts to-night, which are, in my opinion, worthy of consideration. º “There must be love and charity for each other entertained, that it should prosper and acquire a strong and substantial basis. There must be more spirituality, a nearer approach to the Giver of all perfect gifts. Let the sentiment of all be— “‘Nearer, my God, to Thee.” “There is a too high estimate centered upon the mediums and the phenomenal part of Spiritualism. When the attention has been directed to the investigation, by the wonderful powers of a class called mediums, and a fact established, then comes the time to progress, and always act in such a manner as to satisfy the world that we are walking hand in hand with the inhabitants of the angel world, claiming to be guided and directed by their hallowed influence. “Now I do hope to impress upon my earthly friends the neces- sity of activity in this matter, in order to bring about a change, I do request you to use your influence in this respect, urg- ing the spirituality among the Spiritualists, for they are of the earth, too, earthy, and are depending too much upon the powers of mediums to establish their belief in the doctrine. “Now your article in the Journal pleased me; I agree with you ; and whilst I was not a very spiritual man, yet I now see where I might have been a greater help to mankind. I was not what might be termed a very exemplary Christian while in the world, for I allowed myself to be too much engrossed with material things and literary pursuits. I can but lament this course in the abode which I now occupy. “You will gratify me by expressing your views upon this subject. I am, as ever, your spirit friend, “HENRY G. HALL.” JUDGE HENRY G. HALL. 295 The author of the foregoing communication was a resident of Shreveport, La., and died there of yellow fever in 1873. What he says of “our home society” is true in regard to many socie- ties. Spirituality is the great need of Spiritualists. They are on too material a plane. They depend too much on lecturers and mediums. Too much importance is attached to the phe- nomenal phase of Spiritualism. Judge Hall was a graduate of Yale College, and a first-class literary and scientific man, as any one can see who has ever read his review of “Clock Struck One” published in “Clock Struck Three.” He was a prominent lawyer and judge. The Methodist Church honored him as a delegate from the Louisiana Annual Conference to represent them in the General Confer- ence, which met in Memphis, 1870; yet he was not what is called a very spiritual man. His religion was more on the intel- lectual plane. He now regrets his want of spirituality while in the form. Had he investigated Spiritualism before he passed over, we doubt not he would have realized more spirituality, and entered upon a higher plane in spirit-life. The formalities, the Church, nor official position in Church or State, avail nothing on the other side; neither does a knowledge of spirit-communion, un- less it influence our lives, benefit us here or there. It is only a means to accomplish a glorious object, which is a preparation for the spiritual world, and whatever progress we have made in the present state to begin in the other life. How very impor- tant, then, for us to live purely, working for humanity, and thus fitting ourselves for the glorious work of a ministering angel to loved ones on the earth plane ! Let us pray for, and live for, a baptism of the spirits in our “home societies,” “home cir- cles,” and all over our land. Then, as in the primitive Church, it will be said: See how these people love one another From Judge Hall during our absence: “MR, WATSON:—We see it is necessary for you to be 296 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, present in order for the medium to become in a proper condi- tion for the reception of ideas coming from us. You possess a power to attract us, and assist us in our mission to the earth. There can be heights attained where we seem to lose the in- clination to ever visit again the haunts of our earth-life, though we may have tender ties, those we love and feel as though we were to be always near, yet as we become more spiritual we find the inclination to descend to the lower habitations or material associations of earth, or any other sphere, diminish. You can appreciate my views, for similar cases are found even in your sphere. You are hampered with a mortal covering, and physically you are better fitted for the place you occupy; but the casket (your body) is too contracted for a spirit which is constantly expanding and yearning for the spiritual devel- opments to be permitted to remain in that condition longer than the casket can retain it. You are looking beyond, and up- ward and onward is your motto. You will ere long break the fetters which bind you, and will immerge into a land of beauty, joy, and happiness, then you will aspire to brighter joys and pursuits of a more genial nature. Your affinities there will not be what you desire, and your spirit soars to reach more and more of the long-sought bliss of heavenly delights. Such are the aspirations of a soul, seeking and desiring the glorious depths of an approbation of an All-pleased Father of mercy and adored Saviour. You are blessed in His service, and so are all who do His will. You go at His and His messengers' bidding; you yield to the sweet influences of your angelic friends on the bright shores of immortality, who are waiting to conduct you across the river. You dispense words of truth to the ignorant. Your words fall only to instruct, comfort, and prepare erring, sinful man for the life beyond. We are only the agencies used by the Supreme Teacher to impart through our mediums these instructions, and only think of the importance of your mission; you are used only as the dispenser of the truths of a doctrine which shall ere long be acknowledged all over the land.” JUDGE HENRY G. HALL. 297 Communication from Judge Hall : “MR. WATSON —There has been a long silence on my part, not because my interest in you and your cause has abated, nor my love and high regard for you grown cold—but there are always so many who are ready to communicate with you, that I feel like giving way, and I have never exercised my power with any other medium with whom you are brought in contact, hence my silence. I have been trying to unravel a mystery to mc—not by experimenting in materialization, but in obtaining information as to the probability and possibility. That it has been done in ancient times I do not doubt, nor do I doubt that it can be done now ; but is it not possible for earth-mortals to be mistaken, is what I fear. “We are capable of doing very many wonderful spiritual diffi- culties, as you imagine, but when they are properly understood from crucial investigation, it then becomes an easy matter. We consider nothing difficult when we can be governed by natural laws, by spiritual directors and influences, for there is power granted us. We know there can be consolidation of spiritual elements brought forth through the medium and the atmos- phere and the surrounding magnetism, which is above all doubt; but then there is some chance for deception—and this you understand, for I well know your instructions from a well- authenticated source, and from a band who are making this a study, and of course are better prepared to advise you than I. “I am advancing to a higher life, and one that is to me more congenial. I am not satisfied unless I am progressing. My mind is reaching out to grasp in everything that is ennobling, purifying in its nature. I love truth; I love mercy; I love purity, and am trying to attain that degree which will insure for me a place in that sphere. I find that it is easier to descend than to ascend, and the consequence is, my efforts are contin- ually in something which pertains to that higher life. I am not content, still I am happy. “The important crisis has come with you—that in refer- 13* - 298. S THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. ence to your ideas of materialization. I do not attach the im- portance to becoming visible that many do, because in this I see many obstacles and ways of deception ; and if a person is ever deceived, he, if not a confirmed believer, has his faith shaken in the doctrine. I regret it, but it is so. A tub may rest upon a good bottom, but the hoops may be loosened and the slightest tap may cause it to fall, when if let alone it might stand a long time, and with careful handling have the necessary repairs made without being moved from its place. “We will assist you in your present arrangement; we think it pretty good, and it must be continued some time. If I can detect anything wrong I will endeavor to inform you, for we should do it. Begin as soon as you can.” CHAPTER XXIII. WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. THE following communication is from Bro. R. W. Blew, the publisher of the Western Methodist, whose family (all but one) passed away of yellow fever in 1878. He had partially investi- gated Spiritualism, but his relations to the Church prevented him from an open avowal of his convictions in regard to it. He was much devoted to the interest of the children in the paper, and is known by the people as “Uncle Bob.” “BRO. WATSON:—I can't help but come to a cheerful, happy fireside. You remind me of many happy and delightful times we have spent in the earth-life. Those were happy times, and I was a happy man, and one who should have been, and I think I was, a very grateful and thankful man. I never had the heavy rod of affliction to fall upon me, and when I was smitten down with fever my greatest desire was, if I had to depart, I wanted my family to go with me, which request or desire was gratified. I never have regretted it, but have been happy ever since. “I have one regret, and that is, I did not do more in a spir- itual way. And now only one dear little creature remains, and if we could we would have her. Wife was with Sister Wat- son, and she feels anxious to communicate, but that is yet to be done more satisfactory than she has. We must proceed cautiously in some matters, and can't see how we could effect a change, but time will bring it all right. I am as happy as I deserve to be. I met several friends I have not seen for years. There is one feature of this life that I derive comfort from, and (299) 3oo THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. that is, the meeting and recognition of loved ones. Ask some Questions. * “I can easily answer your question in regard to my exit and entrance. When I waked as from sleep, I found myself with friends whom I had once called dead; but no, they were not dead. They came to welcome me. My spirit did not rise to high and celestial abodes, but I found myself waiting still the loved ones of earth, and yet lingering near by to see how I might give comfort to those left behind. I will give you some idea of how I felt. I found things very different from what I expected. My views were undergoing a great change before I left. I find myself inadequate to the task of giving you a correct idea of our beautiful home in the spirit-world; but would you imagine me with my family, composed of all but our little Sallie and many others. I am blest with the dear ones with me, and children seem to crowd around me. I still per- form my mission talking to them. I felt an atmosphere of love permeate my new life, as though it came to take possession of me. “My ideas were far from being advanced, but I believed all would work out right. Importance should not only be attached to great things, but small ones, for there has been much greatness encased in a very small casket. I slight not small things, but feel and know there is much significance in them sometimes. Hence I can condescend (if I should term it) to the tiny raps. I can not slight any, for I can make my presence known even to these. “Your steps have been taken in the right direction. The careful and prayerful attendance to the meetings should result in good to your souls—should quiet the disturbed mind and soothe the aching heart. There must be more of the religious element in your ranks if you hope to succeed, and you all will' see it. Some will oppose it and think this is but mockery, but I tell you there is too little of the spiritual among you. I want to see the religious element preponderate. WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. 3OI “You must pardon me for not answering all your questions right away, as I have to stop to regain my strength. I am too feeble to write more. Your friend, R. W. BLEW.” “BRO. WATSON :—We expect to say something more ex- pressly for your book, for I want you to become the author of a book which will live always after you have joined your friends in the spirit-world. You will then see the object your band had in impressing you to write one, and you will be happier. I love every one, and to those who linger on earth I will say that my constant prayer is that all may be made to feel the assurance that they are accepted by Jesus. I am, of course, busily employed doing good, and intend showing to you some- thing I have done. “Have you seen Jesus?—the medium through whom much has been done and whose example we should imitate. I have seen Him, as I would behold any pure, good spirit, and who is a supreme guardian for us. His example is living, and can never be obliterated from the hearts of men. This is what we should imitate. “You must not expect my views to have undergone a very decided change in so short a time, and as a new-born babe must derive nourishment from its mother to strengthen and for- ward its development and its physical perfection, so we must be fed and matured by degrees to the development of the spiritual. In some things I am Blew naturally; in some I am Blew spiritually. I am orthodox yet on many points. Days, weeks, and months with you pass on without giving you any definite indication of the great changes which are being Wrought in the land in which you dwell and love. We have the faculty of sometimes having an insight into the hidden future. “We see things—objects, and the effect—which you do not. The present is yours. All is ours. The future shall and will reveal much that whl cheer and make you happy, and which will lend lustre to your fading years of declining nature. I 3O2 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. have allusion to your great degree of spiritual enjoyment. The facilities for your development will be more numerous, and your heart endowed with a just appreciation of all this. “I care not for public demonstration and display. Some enjoy it, and are not fully satisfied without it, but give me the quiet, unobtrusive manner in which to act my part in either life. “Such is your feeling and sentiments, congenial. You will be called often to advocate the cause in both public and pri- vate, and you must be ready, for the harvest will be after a while. The laborers are called from every direction. You must rally to the standard. The climax must be reached, and ere you are called away you will, no doubt, have done your part. “The revolution will result in one great shout of praise to the Lord. The clouds sometimes gather and turn up before us, but they are omens of something refreshing, and will burst, and the effect will be very strengthening and beneficial. There is a gloom over your city, and you sometimes feel that nothing will ever come, but don’t be discouraged, Jesus is your friend. “I always see that encouragement is very much needed, for so many think that because there is so little public demonstra- tion that Spiritualism is dying out, never to be resurrected; but the darkest hour is just before day, and a calm very often precedes a storm, so you must be hopeful. I wish I could tell you how much I glory in your labors, for I see the result is all for the good of man, and I love to elevate our race. “I am progressing, and quite rapidly too. I have many gleams of light. We are struggling to help those in earth-life in their cares and perplexities. Sister Watson will be willing, I know, for me to finish this soon. As I am too tired writing to complete the article, I will take my departure for to-night. “Your friend, R. W. BLEw.” “SAMUEL :—I came with Bro. Blew, but wanted him to occupy the time, so I cheerfully retired. He always seems so WoRDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. 303 much gratified when he holds communion with you. He says he has much to learn, and intends to do it. His aspirations are very ennobling. He is not satisfied to sit down and feast only, as it were, with those who are just like him, and then they hold what they term a council. “I am glad you have enjoyed this chat. “Your affectionate MOLLIE.” I make the following extract from a communication from an old and intimate friend, one of the most prominent members of the Memphis Conference: “BRO. WATSON :—I have never yet attempted to say any- thing to those I left behind, for I know how averse they were to anything of the kind. “Now, Bro. Watson, I always löved you, and am still cog- nizant of your actions. You are a true man, and, as you always have tried to do, living up to your convictions of duty. We were always united in sentiment, though we never ex- changed our opinions upon the present expressed faith of yours, and the liberal free thought and speech of the day. I was always an advocate of the truth, and if that had been my belief while in the flesh, I should have boldly acknowledged it. “However, we have ascended the ladder, and whilst we de- serve not yet the pinnacle, we shall strive on till we gain the top. I am now at a loss to describe to you the experience of my first entrance into the life of a spirit, free from its encasement. We lived long in the service of our Master. We inherited the precious bestowal of His love and tender care, and through many long years we consecrated our lives to His service, and, when we departed the natural part of our existence, we em- barked into a vast sea of never-ending usefulness. Here we are always renewed, day by day, with power to press on in the service of God, which shall never end. We have a mansion within us, we have a mansion around us, and we have a man- sion above us. The heights, lengths, and depths of divine 3O4 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. love, charity, and confidence in a saving and just Redeemer, has become in, and to us, mansions. We love His renewing grace, which still attends the spirit. I am endeavoring to in- crease my power and influence upon mankind, and though I see little intimation of a change, yet I know the day will come. “I shall visit your circle again. “I am still your old friend and brother, “ G. W. D. HARRIS.”. I make a short extract from a communication from Rev. J. D. Andrews, who has written through several mediums, and given many very remarkable tests of his identity, several of which I did not know till months after they were given : “We have had delightful seasons of spirit communion, in which we have spoken freely to you, upon the blessed subject of heavenly recognition of spirits communing with you, and upon the advanced ideas presented in the doctrine of the same. I have long since discovered the far-off, and mistaken, and in- correct interpretation of some of the teachings of our minis- ters. Some have grown out of, and have received these truths in an advanced manner, and do openly and nobly defend and present the same to the world; whilst others conceal much which is true and good. “I feel that if I could live my earth-life over as a public proclaimer, I should exercise my talents and knowledge to a better advantage. I would do much of my work over again, and effect a happier result in the life to which you are all tend- ing; and not only you, but we. Our position in spirit-life, the degrees of happiness and enjoyment, our employment de- pends upon ourselves, in the life which you are now living. I regret exceedingly that in consequence of failing to live as they should, many remain in a lower sphere than otherwise, for we ascend just in proportion to the manner we have lived, and the amount of usefulness we have accomplished in the flesh. WoRDs of ENCOURAGEMENT. 305 “You must adhere as closely to the Bible as you can, and then you may expect persons to hear you, who have always had a profound conviction of its truth. It is often the case that your teachings impress them—you don't make a wreck of their former teachings all at once. You are prepared to show many their true position who do not know it. I wish you God-speed, and much success. J. D. ANDREws.” CHAPTER XXIV. PLAIN TALK FROM AN OLD FRIEND. “I MUST insist that you sing and pray before you can har- monize with the spirit friends who come to tell of the life be- yond. We want your circle to be more spiritual. You can not expect mediums to be subject to spirit control from the higher spheres when their minds are not directed to spiritual subjects until they are seated to write. Even then they are often occupied with the floating thoughts which may perchance find lodgment in their brains. Such communications, while they may interest and excite wonder, sometimes their spiritual effects are not what those coming from higher and holier spheres would be. “You have progressed to that plane of spiritual belief that would attract the angels from their spheres of light, and whose presence would illumine your pathway if you could always have that harmony of souls and spirits which is necessary to hold them near to tell of the joys of immortal life and happiness that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard.' I do not com- plain, but only exhort you to be more spiritually-minded in your meetings. I know you desire the truth, and we want to make it known. We must have conditions harmonious with spirit-laws to do this. Spirits must not be dictatorial, for mor- tals have identities as well; but we must persuade and counsel. It is for your instruction that we leave our bright abodes and come to earth. It has no attraction for us but to benefit journeying and struggling mortals in their progress to eternity. “MOSES, BROCK.” (306) PLAIN TALK FROM AN OLD FRIEND. 3o 7 We asked him to stay and give us further information—re- marked that we used to talk of the subject of Spiritualism when little but table-tipping was known. He wrote as follows: “FRIEND WATSON :—What is it you want to know P I am, you know, a Spiritualist, and ready now as in earth-life to talk of those things. I labored for the good of souls then, and am doing the same now, but my knowledge is greatly increased and I can tell you more of spirit-life than you have ever learned from table-tipping if I can only have proper conditions. But you must let me have them before I can tell just what will satisfy you with all the light you have. Now proceed with questions, if you have any.” * Question.—Tell us of your home, employments, and sur- roundings. g Answer.—“I entered upon this life halt, maimed, and blind with the old dogmas and creeds of Methodism hanging to me. I soon saw the time had come with the Church when she must throw them aside to go into all the world and preach the Gos- pel. Christ told them (His disciples) to preach. I found my home bright with the love of God and the company of the first- born, who had come up through tribulations as he had come. You want me to describe my home from a material stand-point, or rather to give you an idea of its appearance from association with material things. I can not do this; neither would it do you any good, for you have had “line upon line, and precept upon precept,” still you are no better satisfied than when you first heard a material description of spirit-life. Such points I have never touched and will not now, for I can not give your material understanding a correct view of spiritual homes, avo- cations, and employments. Rest quietly on that point, my brother, umtil you come over, and you will then understand how difficult it is to instruct the material mind in regard to spirit surroundings. “The time has come when mankind must know the truth. Spirits are striving hard to make it shine in letters which can 3o8 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. be known and read of all men. You, my brother, must stand by the truth, let others fly as wide as the universe from it. Un- believers in God, and His mighty power to save to the utter- most, should never raise their voices, when they stand upon holy ground where God and angels meet for the salvation of men, and make the will of the Divine manifest through such agents as consecrate their spirits to God and the good of His CreatureS. “I try to impress you often when you know it not. You feel an impulse to drive away wrong impressions by calling the minds of your hearers from infidel teachings, to the pure and holy Gospel taught by Jesus of Nazareth, whom God ap- proved in mighty workings of power. Be not weary; the time is short in which you have to work on the mortal plane. Do your work well, for angels are guiding your footsteps, lest you dash your foot against a stone, and thereby fall from the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You must array yourself in battle panoply and be always ready to speak when the enemy invades the territory which Christ conquered by the will and power given of the Father. You are His representative in this generation as His apostles were in that immediately succeeding His earthly ministry. Never yield the faith you possess, and when you pass from the earth-sphere, you will find the rich re- ward promised to the faithful steward. I bid you good-night. “MOSES BROCK.” We were intimate with our friend for many years. He spent much time with our family when Presiding Elder of this dis- trict; was one of the first preachers we ever conversed with upon the subject when table-tippings were first known in this country in 1852. “Have been silent for some time because of other controls who were interested as well as I in spreading spiritual light and truth. I now come to add my testimony to that of others, who, from the spirit-world, see the study of man's creation is PLAIN TALK FROM AN OLD FRIEND. 3og more interesting to many minds than that of his salvation. I will state at the outset that science is running wild upon the display of knowledge gained through its developments. It leads to materialism rather than a belief in the infinite and mighty power of God, who is spirit, and controls all matter by the power which spirit possesses over it. < \ “God breathes upon every atom of matter, and makes it praise Him in wonderful manifestations. Matter does not possess life, but is only the manifest result of spirit power. The world to-day is failing to be enlightened, because of the great interest in material things to the neglect of the ‘better part, which Jesus told Martha Mary had chosen. She loved the Master, not on account of the miracles He performed, but because of the great spiritual elevation His teachings made her feel in that God-like germ within her expansive soul. Martha was more material in her thoughts and feelings. Jesus intended to arouse her to a consciousness of the fact, when He said to her, “Thou art cumbered about many things.’ He knew the material was better left unstudied, than to absorb the soul's aspirations after the one great truth, which Mary sought and learned from Him. Martha learned nothing of the inner life and its connection with the Father through Jesus Christ, whom He had sent into the world to teach all who would learn of Him. “‘To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.' He gave them power, how P By conferring or transmitting the knowledge He had received, be- cause of His mediatorial office, and being the incarnation of God's Spirit, which was all knowledge and wisdom. He gave them power by conferring or transmitting the gifts which He possessed, as the sign of God that His works should manifest His power. He sealed the works of Christ with the signet of truth. “When He commissioned His successors, He told them “to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature ; 3 Io THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.’ Condemned—it should read. Condemned whenever the signs were not manifest, as that fact was to follow faith. Where no sign was, there was no faith, and condemnation followed as an inevitable result. Thus you see from this rendering of the text that water baptism was not meant, for that could never cast out devils nor heal the sick. It was spiritual baptism that was to manifest itself in signs and wonders, so that the unbelieving might be made to believe for the ‘very works' sake.’ “If Jesus had intended to teach material science He would not have worded the commission as He did, but would have said, Go dig into the bowels of the earth, for therein lie evidences of the truth of my teachings. It is the Spirit of God that tells man his wrongs, instructs, elevates, and damns (con- demns). I thus speak of material science, because the human mind is being led away from the study of those spiritual laws which bind him to his Creator and Benefactor. I caution my mortal friends against too much concern about that which is detrimental to the soul's expansion, and fills the brain with speculative philosophy, which, in its turn, becomes speculative dogmatism. True religion is not dogmatic, while creedism is oftentimes so. True religion is as broad as the world, and as deep as the sea. True religion is born of God, and elevates every soul who feels its hallowed impulses, to that commun- ion which God designs to effect by making His angels ministers to teach the way of truth. “Many scoff at the idea of the so-called dead returning to earth, tipping tables, etc., etc. They do these things to arrest the material mind on its own plane, and then direct it by the light of truth to a spiritual understanding of their mis- sion. When spirits come in this way, it is to accomplish the same object Jesus Christ had in teaching His followers by parables. He could have reached their material minds in no other way than by illustrations with which they were familiar. PLAIN TALK FROM AN OLD FRIEND. 3II Then the way was opened for the induction of spiritual revela- tions. “I will now give way for another control. Good-night. “MOSES BROCK.” Erom an old Methodist preacher of this city: “My heart, while I was in the body, was grieved, because of the evil deeds of those who did not love God, and feel the im- portance of the soul’s salvation. Now, my spirit leaves its bright and beautiful abode, to come to earth. For what do I come P Not because I need the aid of mortals so much, but to give them the true light which lighteth every man that com- eth into the world. All day long I stretch my spirit-hands earthward, hoping to lay them upon some head, and thereby stimulate the brain, so as to make them the medium through ‘which I can communicate the glad tidings of joy that the un- derstanding of the great laws God has ordained to fit His creatures for the eternal inheritance, vouchsafed to them through the mediumship of His dearly beloved Son. “The spirit-world is full of those who know not Christ as their advocate, because of the violation of those spiritual laws which God ordained to prepare them for the near relationship of ‘joint heirs' with Him in the love and heritage of God His Father. You, my friend, possess the gift of mediumship through which souls ordained to eternal life, by the will of God, because of obedience to His will and commandments, can give the light which was to be the life of men. You are developing slowly, but surely. Take care of your health, for that has much to do with mediumistic gifts, so far as their development to benefit the world is concerned. Take all the exercise you can bear ; and always find something to enjoy if possible. This leads the mind into that freedom from care which is necessary to control. “My old friend, with whom I was associated in the body and whose kindness I so often enjoyed, must not be forgotten 3I 2 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. I come to earth to aid you in the great struggle through which you are passing. Bright will be your crown of rejoicing when we meet on the shores of immortality. Let your soul be the temple of God by keeping it free from the corrupt influences that have attached to the glorious cause of Spiritualism; cor- rupt influences, I mean, coming from those who are Spiritual- ists in name, while they deny the power which gives the doc- trine of spirit communion its only foundation. God is moving upon the minds of His creatures through His angel ministers, and will yet so lift the veil that divides spirits and mortals as to show how, in the twinkling of an eye, the life of earth is changed into the life of spirit. I will come again some time, and talk with you. Good-night. DAVID J. ALLEN.” From Rev. S. D. Baldwin, D.D., author of “Amegeddon,” who was our Nashville correspondent, while we edited the Memphis Christian Advocate. Being desirous to hear from our old friend, we earnestly in- voked his presence to give us his present views. On Sunday night, August 5th, our home medium was controlled and wrote the following, giving some tests of his identity of a very satis- factory character. We leave all to exercise their judgment, without offering any opinion ourselves: “My theory in regard to the meaning of the prophecies of Daniel is fast being fulfilled. I know I was impressed by angel wisdom when my mind was directed to write that book. I was a believer while in the body in angel ministration and the com- munion of loved ones from the other side of Jordan, but was afraid to declare my belief, for the world and the Church thought me crazy. Crazy I was, if the glorious light of spirit presence and a conscious knowledge of it constitutes insanity. “Brother Watson, the time is coming when the Church which you and I served so long and faithfully, will advocate the same doctrine you now preach. The truth will shine from every spire and tower. The pulpit will blaze with spirit inspiration, REV. S. D. BALDWIN, 3I3 and then the ignoble word crazy will be remembered no more; for all who love the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel truths He gave to the world, will preach and serve God in the spirit and with the understanding. Then all shall know what the power of the spirit is, when conditions are such as to enable them to use the elements necessary for their manifestation. I am talk- ing a little incoherently to-night, but you must remember my nature and mind were rather eccentric, and no other sort of communication would be characteristic of Baldwin. My book will be read with interest now. The signs of the times point to the fulfillment of its contents. Russia, England, and other powers will engage in mortal combat, but the end will come, and then will come the dawn of the mellennium. Spiritualism is the harbinger of the light and knowledge which will envelope the world, and man will no more desire his brother's blood. Mankind will recognize one common Father—that His laws are immutable, and for their violation the penalty must be suffered. That no wrong-doing can be canceled but by the perpetra- tor's paying the debt of recompense in the sphere of darkness and misery. “I can not control as I would. You must make your family sittings more varied; then the mediums will receive impres- sions like the electric flashes which foretell the coming cloud. I know system in many things, and really in most matters, is necessary; but in mediumship, where the mind is the channel through which the communications come, there should be per- fect passivity. This can not always be so. When it is other- wise, the communications are not so reliable, for distracting or contending controls interfere, and so mix up things the medium can scarcely tell whether he or she is controlled by spirits or not. I will write again, since you desire my communion—will come some time when you are not looking for me, and when the medium least expects my control; then I will be able to write more. Good-night. EALDWIN.” I4 314 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. We have no opinion to offer as to the truthfulness of Mr. Baldwin's theory, but give these extracts for our readers as a subject for reflection. Mr. Baldwin has certainly been very correct in regard to a number of things respecting our govern- ment, but whether he has given a correct interpretation respect- ing the nations of Europe, and what is to be the final result in the establishment of a “millennial republic,” we leave each one to judge from his own stand-point. CHAPTER XXV. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THEODORE PARKER, CYRUS JEFFRIES, HANNAH MORE, AND ABBIE E. LANSING. “WE are all connected by the reign of power, law, and mind. Wheresoever we go—in whatsoever sphere we move—the world of matter, the world of man, or the world of God, the same great power, law and mind, controls our destinies. We may gather delight from the sphere in which we move, in which we have our respective duties to fulfill—our rights to enjoy— these joys increasing as our duties are performed. We may unite our destinies with the combined spheres of matter, man, and God, or content ourselves with the lowest grades of human enjoyments, or we may reach out into the great spiritual field of truth, to be fed with everlasting food from angel hands. It is the complete and perfect spirit that unites all three; the in- finite spark of life ; the divine principle ; the perfect and absolute love for the great indweller of our beings—spiritual goodness. Through this perfect part—this particle of the Father, God—we feel our souls going out in love to Him ; in will-force to serve Him; to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The pure in spirit, the true in heart, worship God from the fullness of love he bears His fellow-man. The wild, vague notions of churches and creeds in their superstitious fear and ſanatic hate, striving to love God from the material plane, while they cultivate reverence, strive through faith of things hoped for to love God, keep themselves forever upon the downward plane because they will not let the love of God come out of their hearts in their (315) 316 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. love to man. That which man calls God, and looks up to and worships, is formed to suit the mind which that man is govern- ed by ; he creates his God according to the sphere in which he moves, and increases his joys as he finds his pleasure grow greater in his trust to his God. The God of Moses was a God fond of battle, and battles were fought to appease his anger. To-day the world is full of men, who, through bitter invectives and unkind feelings toward their fellow-man, feel that they are but doing their duty to their God. The God of Genesis gives a picture of a created world, an infant in swaddling-clothes, created from the fancy of the mind—drawn from the stories of ancient Pagan teachings. This child does not grow—the churches keep him in his babyhood. The increase of the minds who have united the material, the human, and the divine, demand a wider and more natural creation of humanity. From the world of matter they gather facts that bring, through nature's God, the true conception of the human race. Rocks, rivers, the ocean, with its coral caves, the high heavens, with their glittering, dancing stars, speak of a power who never violated a law; a true God, who, as Father of all, governs through love, in union with His divine attributes, that are shown through the workings of matter upon the great throbbing bosom of mother earth. “As the soul strives to lift itself into the higher walks of nature, the law of mind will increase, until through the union of the three great spheres in which mortals move, the life-in- spiring principle will come, increasing our love, until the God- will within will show through good deeds as shines the morning light upon some fair flower. As we move through the sphere of life so we must find a respective sphere in the life to come. The controlling power of law and mind governs. Lift your. selves by the law of progression out of the uncertain grooves of your life plane, and let the mind expand and gain power, and you will attain a clearer and nearer road to God; and the duties increasing through love will bring added joys. Let the CoMMUNICATION FROM CYRUs JEFFRIES 31.7 e ruling power of your souls govern all. Rely upon that divine presence that is within your own soul, the eternal word of God, that which speaks through the inner life, the faculties He has given you—Truth. Let there ever be a union of all planes, of all laws, and all gospels, for in all lies a portion of the true Scriptures. From the teachings of the Jews may be gathered much of good; Phoenician laws have their lights that it were well to keep burning; from the fount of inspiration that filled the soul of Moses Jesus drank, while their teaching differed as differs one star from another in its glory. But the Father was in all, and Jesus, with His pure, loving heart, gathered the purest of the gems that fell from the gatherings of Moses. Let the life of forms and useless words pass away; move your altars of stone and wood and build altars of good deeds, that live long after the wood and stone have decayed. Govern your life by the great power of love, that the law may be perfected and the mind filled with the holy principle of well-doing, until you so perfect your sphere that matter and man may receive the influx of God, the Father and mother of all principles.” The following is an extract from a communication addressed to our home medium : “I want now to tell you and your brother of my entrance into spirit-life. My spirit was filled with such an influx of joy, from the celestial spheres conveyed by the spirits of the just and good, that I was lost and bewildered for a time in the glorious light and beauty spread out before my spiritual vision. My loved ones, as well as those to whom I was bound in earth- life by the ties of spirit affinity, ushered me into the beautiful realm of spirits and bade me to drink from the fountain of purity and wisdom. I drank of that spiritual rock which is Christ, and can never thirst again; for the water of life which He taught me was free for all is constantly before me a living reality. No faith, but knowledge, which makes faith full frui- tion. 318 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. © “The beauties spread out before my glorified spirit are far beyond anything mortal mind can conceive. I often thought while in the body that spirits should be more explicit in giving information about the life and surroundings of spirits. But now I can only say as others have done. No mortal mind can conceive nor understand the joys, and beauties, and loveliness which await the soul whom God has honored with His image, and whose obedience and faith, and the constant exercise of those virtues, has accomplished His mission on earth by fighting the good fight and laying up treasures in heaven. My soul doth magnify the Ilord, and in His presence my spirit is full of boundless love. In His ways I meditate, and glorify the power which moves the mighty universe of law. The laws I studied and found unalterable while in the body, reach every atom of spiritual realms. - “Press forward, my friends, in the good work of enlightening and doing good, and God will bring you up higher when the lamp of mortal life shall burn out, and spiritual life shall catch the expiring flame, and burst forth with brilliancy increased an hundredfold. I love to visit your home circle, and aid you to understand the laws which prevail in the glorified spheres. Be patient and let your light shine as you receive wisdom from the land above where all is'harmony and love. “Cyrus JEFFRIES.” HANNAH MORE. “Kind friends, I come from the shores celestial with a prayer in my heart and upon my lips—a prayer for the success of the great and good work in which you are engaged. You have desired that some one from spirit shores would give you the true definition of prayer, its benefits to humanity, and in what way it reaches the Great Spirit. “Prayer is the true inspiration of the soul. It comes through all natious as the prompting or quickening of the inner life. Its expressions are modified as vary the degrees of mind from CoMMUNICATION FROM HANNAH MoRE. 3I9 which the desires flow. The hearts that yearn for spiritual food send out their longings through the avenues of the soul. From the pent-up thoughts burst forth praises, expressed in terms of adoration to that Great Being who has beautified all earth. The hearts that are sore and weary, pleadingly send forth their thoughts in prayer, gaining strength as through the spiritual gate of the soul the gentle harmonious influence of min- istering angels baptizes all with the soothing influence of the Great Spirit, that through them by perfect laws acts upon mor- tals. . Aspiration, or prayer, is necessary to spiritual growth. It brings the children of earth en rapport with the more perfect or advanced of the spirit-plane. It lives in the organism of earth's children to a greater or less degree, as the apex, or mental, active part, the brain, may be developed. It is from the grand temple of the spiritual element where the vestal flame is burning, and as the priestess of the soul watches, so burns the flame. If the aspirations be high, seeking with pure spirit for divine truths, the vestal flame throws its light abroad over the land to glorify all life. “True devotion is the silent prayer, shutting from the phys- ical senses outer thoughts, that the inner or spiritual may quicken, as the infinite sends its radiance in upon the temple. The baptism then received sanctifies and makes perfect the body. The holy magnetism of ministering angels falls in re- fulgence over the spiritual, and brings a foretaste of joys supernal. “Prayer, in its aspirations for truth, is spirit communion; it is that perfect love by which the spiritual nature can be cul- tivated—the most perfect means of a divine influence, that lifts the spirit of man from earth and its surroundings to enjoy heavenly bliss. “To become spiritualized, that you may enjoy the divine rapture of heaven, you must listen to the voice of God in the soul, calling through His ministering spirits that you come up higher. Step by step advance, prompted by the perfect in- 32O THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. tuitions of the soul, the vestal fire that awaits the fan of true aspirations to give it power to blaze aloft, consuming the dross of your nature, where the lower passions revel, and lifting you out, as pure metal from the crucible. “Watch the flowers, as their petals upward turn to catch the glory of the Sun, and drink the life-sustaining influence from its rays, and from them you learn that the power of glory, the great Center of all, draws by His influence the heart of the flowers toward Him. The trees, with their garland-crowned branches reaching upward, point as if in supplication to a higher power from whence comes true strength. “Prayer is the aspiration of the soul, the golden gateway through which the inner senses pass to mingle with the spiritual essence of the divine. It harmonizes the man, softens his stern nature, enables him to feel the electric power of the angel hosts, and for the time to feel the kingdom of God with- in. Let your lives be one constant prayer, that you may al- ways feel His presence through the influence of His minister- ing angels, who will give you the soul-stirring prayer to live as you preach, and make your prayer full of deeds that shall bring the Father's kingdom on earth. All perfect lives are prayers, and bring with them the Great Spirit. They show the God- spirit, or perfect part of their natures, and add to and increase their spiritual lives. The man or woman who lives one holy prayer, by a constant life of good deeds, hallows the name of our Father, brings His kingdom upon earth, receives each day from the Infinite his spiritual food, which enables him to forgive those who trespass against him, has the power to resist evil by his own great desire to make all perfect that are im- perfect—perfect as to the laws and the desires of the spiritual w kingdom. tº . “Every wish that's framed within the mind, Of high or noble impulse given— Every deed of mercy, true and kind, Will prove a prayer in heaven.” CoMMUNICATIONS THROUGH MRs. K. B. Robinson. 325 talk to us as in earth-life. This lady possesses that God-given power to as great an extent as any we have ever seen. After she returned to her normal state the Doctor intro- duced us to her, and it seemed strange that one who had spoken so familiarly to us should now know nothing of what she had said, nothing at all about our history. “It is appropriate and beautiful for our morning séance, this lovely spring morning, for with it comes a bright and beautiful influence. Nothing pleases us as the guides of the medium more than to meet with honest, noble pioneers, with those who love the cause of true Spiritualism. When we go back in the records of Spiritualism, we remember just such circles as this, where they seemed to appreciate the importance of this subject, and for the moment were willing to leave all earthly cares be- hind, and gather together, even as the apostles gathered in the days of long ago. Where people come together with honest aspirations, and their souls go out after the powers that are everywhere demonstrating themselves in this day, they will re- ceive a blessing.” There are many of the old pioneers of Spiritualism here ready to meet you to-day, and talk with you as they have in days gone by. They have seen the trials through which you have passed, and they know that they are necessary for your development. It is very pleasant for these to meet with you here, and they bring a beautiful gift to you all. Soft and silent are the footsteps that come with bless- ings to you. “Spiritualism is the grandest gift God has ever given to the world. It is going forth everywhere, feeding the starving mul- titude; it is going into the churches, and among all denomina- tions. There are those who are grappling with and trying to understand the power which it is bringing in to their midst. You have aided the spirit-world in bringing this light into the world, and when you enter into that world you will be crowned with laurels. There are friends here who bid each one of you welcome. There is one here ready to greet you with a kindly 326 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM smile ; it is Robert Dale Owen. He tells us to report him, and say I knew you were to meet here in the upper chamber. I realize that I live, and how thankful I am my work on earth is done ; and yet in spirit how oft to this life I come ! How beautiful the idea of this world, far beyond anything that I con- ceived of while on earth, and the further I progress the more wonderful does it appear in its perfection I assure you that the position which I took in earth-life in defense of modern Spiritualism has helped me in this life, and I would say to all, be true to your highest convictions, and you will realize the crown of everlasting life. “Judge Edmonds comes hand in hand with Robert Dale Owen. He wishes each one to know that you have the loving sympathy of the spirit-world, and he bids you go on in the work, remembering that amidst all the war of persecution the cause of Spiritualism is still onward and upward, and the glorious truths of divine immortality are being established be- yond a doubt. Your mediums are many of them passing away to the better world; the pioneers of Spiritualism are coming over to us one by one; but we rejoice to know that new mediums and new speakers are being developed and called into the field, and that in the future greater and grander truths will be given to the world. Spirits innumerable are crossing the river you call death, but which we call life, and giving to mor- tals descriptions of spirit-life. I am glad I took the stand I did in life, and avowed my belief in Spiritualism. Brother Tal- mage and I are here, together with many others.” Jesse B. Ferguson said: “Brother Watson, God bless you ; you have been true, and many people know that you are true. Many may oppose your ideas, but you have done a great deal of good in your labors—you have explained the Scriptures, and in that way you have reached the hearts and homes of many, and they perceive your power and your knowledge. Your work on earth will not COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH MRS. K. B. ROBINSON. 327 be finished until greater and grander truths are presented to the world through you. “It is a great treat to me to be able thus to speak to you. I have often controlled Mrs. Hawks. I like her organism. I ann glad you have taken the position you have in regard to spirit materialization. The spirit-world has been experimenting on that subject, and the people were so determined to have it that they would not wait for the proper development, and the result was that the manifestations have been very much mixed, and they are not satisfactory to us nor you. I believe the day is not far distant when, in the broad noonday sun your spirit friends will appear outside of boxes, curtains, and cabinets, and everything of the kind; they will come out and be seen by all and speak to you in unmistakable language. I believe that God is ready to answer the earnest desire of mankind to have this ocular and absolute demonstration of spirit power and presence. But this must come from high and holy principles; there must be no leaders to draw this way or that, but there must be a gen- eral spirit of sympathy and love. The mediums and the investi- gators must be actuated by honest and pure motives, so that spirits of high order can come and materialize. All that has been done has been but as rough sketches and outlines of what we desire to do, but these crude forms were necessary as a be- ginning. The world is being prepared for higher and better presentations than these, and they would have been presented before this if the people had been wise enough to have aided us instead of running so eagerly after that which was crude, im- perfect, and often false. Within five years the world will pass through a change. The people are progressing daily; no mat- ter how skeptical they may be, all have a desire for these things to be demonstrated to them clearly, and to accomplish this the angel armies are marshaling their hosts; they are working every- where among the people in all the churches and out of them. Henry C. Wright is here. He says the Spiritualists were often too impatient, denlanding tests continually from the spirit- 328 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM, world, and were not satisfied unless they had these. Willie Davenport is here, and many others who desire to greet you.” White Feather now greeted us cordially and said: “Here comes John, he puts his arm around your neck and says, “My father, God bless you.' There is a Mollie with him, and a squaw, Teketa. There is the spirit of a dear old man comes to you, his hair was brushed back, he died in that place where you live. He was a big man in the place. His face is smooth, and his top-head is bald. He did not believe in Spiritualism, though he had many talks with you. Aunt Sallie is here. She is a very pretty spirit. John Wesley is here. There is a dear little boy, not more than four or five years old.” May 1oth, 1878. Something was said about the wonderful phenomena of Spir- itualism, when the control said: “Nothing is wonderful, all things are natural. The time is not far distant when the phenomena you call Spiritualism will be better understood everywhere. It has come to you in an humble way, but it is the light and religion of the world for . future ages. Amid all the warring and disputing of skepticism, like a bright twinkling star it is shining most beautifully, and revealing the divine and glorious truths of spirit communion. Amid all these strange revelations and scientific facts that you are gathering to-day, there is one thing to be remembered, Spritualism is intended to free every human soul; to enlighten every human mind; to dispel the darkness of bigotry, igno- rance, and prejudice; to educate every human being so that they may comprehend the truths that are adapted for their de- velopment in the most beautiful manner. Vast and beautiful is the power we see coming with Spiritualism. That which you have received and endeavored to understand in the last thirty years, is but a small item to what is yet to come. We know the day is near at hand when all will see for themselves evi- dence, and proofs far beyond anything you have ever yet COMMUNICATION FROM ABBIE E. LANSING: 321 ABBIE E. LANSING. “My friends, from the fair land of Eden I come, with my heart full of love. “I promised our good friend, Samuel Watson, that from time to time I would communicate. I know there are many who will turn away disappointed when they cast their eyes upon my communication. I do not seek into hidden mysteries, nor do I dig 'neath the débris of the decayed past for subjects. I find my soul stirred by the sufferings of humanity, and my spirit awakened to action by their wants. Wherever I can find the most to do I labor, and whenever I am most needed I come. Through the influence of the Divine Spirit I am di- rected, as the promptings fill my soul I respond, and at the awakening of my intuitive powers my soul reaches out toward its mission. º “My spirit is made sad and my heart wrapped in gloom when I see the strong influence which the undeveloped and unregenerated spirits have upon a great number of Spiritualists. “The theories which they put forth are filled with dark- stained atheism, the idea of prayer is laughed to scorn, and the name of God looked upon as a myth. Jesus, the gentle Teacher, is classed with rude, coarse men, whose lives are full of sin. Everything which tends to improve and advance the life of man unto perfection is looked upon as weak and idle fancies, growing out of the orthodox element which still clings to the Spiritualists who teach the perfect principle of Christ. How mistaken are the souls who are thus led into the wild whirl of radical impulses : “All the perfect teachings of spirit control but lead you into higher and better lives, guide you into the purer paths, which bid you keep your soul in perfect trust through a constant desire for the right and a never-ending prayer of good deeds and noble works. “Prayer lifts the soul above the gross desires of earth, and 14* 322 • THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. brings the suppliant in closer communion with the God-giving Spirit. It softens the coarse element which surrounds the earth, and keeps the heart constantly desiring for good deeds. Without it, man is ever like the shifting sail, moving from side to side. With no trust but that with which fortune may favor him, his life is dark. He appeals to no one. Within his own soul lie all the cares and all the ills of his unhappy life. He has no voice to supplicate, sees no power save that which his own will may create. His guardian spirits, like himself, are constantly preaching that the only law by which man is governed is man, and he is ever denouncing all who do not, like himself, believe in the right to act regardless of principle or law. Wherever his fancy leads him he strays, feeds upon his lust, and cries, There is no God . He makes for himself a hell upon earth, knowing not that the laws of progression are to develop and increase the perfect principle of nature, and the Light of Life is God, a perfect Spirit, to be worshiped in spirit and truth, and that Jesus, feeling the influence of the Spirit, perfected His life unto graciousness, that those who followed Him might see the per- fect peace which came from a pure spiritual life and a constant prayer of holy aspirations, seeking for that goodness which is of God, and by which alone man can attain happiness. “Many of us here are working to establish a true and pure spiritual element in your midst. We desire to lift you up, and aid you in establishing a Church which shall be seen from afar off, founded upon the rock of truth, far above creeds and false assertions. Aided by the ministering spirits in doing good, you will draw from out the pits of sin the unfortunate of earth and show them where the light is, and how their prayers may reach the land of spirits, that infinite goodness of an Infinite Mind may reflect through the finite nature of man and de- lineate the perfect precepts of the Master, who taught them that the kingdom of God was within them, and that by their deeds the world should know them. This Church, which is to be the Harmonial Temple, is to be CoMMUNICATION FROM ABBIE E. LANSING. 323 founded upon the pure teachings of Jesus, to be sustained through good deeds, and illumed by the light of love which is from God. “Its gates are to swing wide open to all of God's children, regardless of sect or creed, and the spiritual food is to be given to all who hunger. “As the sunlight of heaven is free to all, so let the sunlight of advanced thoughts and true teachings be dispensed to all who seek. Ask them not whence they come or who they are. God and the angel world know them, and they enter the Har- monial Temple to find that which has been denied them else- where. Help them, and God will help you. Remember there is something good in all, and if you would lift the shadows you must bear the light. Ilet your lives be filled with prayer and your love of God increase, until goodness shall guide you into the paths which Jesus trod, and His Spirit show through all.” CHAPTER XXVI. COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED THROUGH MRS. KATIE B. ROBINSON, OF 2123 BRANDY WINE STREET, PHILA- DELPHIA. IN company with Dr. Child, we visited this medium our second day in Philadelphia. She had no idea who we were ; the Doctor told her we were a friend from the country. Soon she was entranced by her control, “White Feather,” who seemed to know a great deal about our antecedents and asso- ciations. We have never heard so many incidental tests given in so short a time. It was wonderful beyond anything we ever realized with any medium. We have not the space to give to them, but if we had never known anything else than what she gave us, no theory but the spiritual can explain it. Reference was had to the part of our life which no mortal knew save our- self, and some things that had passed from memory's page. The present status and future prospects of Spiritualism, and our relation to it, were referred to in a manner calculated to make a lasting impression upon our mind. Jesse B. Ferguson then controlled her, and Dr. Child took it down. Our son John then controlled her for some time, most affectionately referring to them in a way that no other person could. Tears of joy ran down her cheeks while she spoke of his happiness in the spirit-world, and in meeting the large number of relatives who had passed over before him. What a glorious privilege is this l—that there are those whose organisms can be controlled by our friends, so that they can (324) LETTER FROM COLONEL KASE. 329 known. There never was a spirit mother who returned to greet her children in earth-life, but what it gave pleasure to that child when it understood it was its mother. We know that every family that receives and understands this truth is made happier and better by it. We welcome you to-day. Each one of you is sowing seeds by the wayside; each one of you have been chosen instruments to extend toward earth's children these beautiful truths and ideas that are to bless the people. The mediums and writers through which these phenomena have been given to the world are passing away, but future generations will take up the books and papers and read each name with sacred feelings, and bless them for the good work they have done. To-day these are not understood or appreciated, but when your forms are laid away, and your spirits are enjoying the world of peace and love, then you will look back to earth and see the fruits of your labor, your suffering, and the earnest efforts you have made to spread the truth. You are right in demanding clear and positive tests of the truths that you are to give forth. One tiny evidence of a positive and unmistakable character is better than a thousand doubtful ones.” I take the liberty of inserting the following letter from Col. Kase : “I6o 1 N. 15TH ST., PHILADELPHIA, } “May 22, 1878. “DR. SAMUEL WATSON:—Respected Sir : I feel it my duty to give the following narrative for the benefit of those who stop to reflect upon the conditions of life here and hereafter, hoping this may reach the hardened mind, whose action has caused such suffering to two persons—one in the physical form, the other, a Dr. Lee, in the spirit-world. “And before giving the facts as they occurred, I will briefly state that, yesterday, Mr. Samuel Watson, of Memphis, Tenn., Mrs. Kase, Mary Holien, and Mrs. Beach, paid a visit to the institution for the insane, Philadelphia, which institution is a model of cleanliness and apparent good order. Having been 33O THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. shown through eight wards of the gentlemen's department, the party went to the ladies' portion of said institution. There seemed to be a great contrast in the general appearance of the patients—the ladies seemed much the most gloomy and sad— from the outward appearance of the ladies. A Mrs. seemed attracted by Mrs. Kase and ladies, and, being permit- ted to occupy the parlors, entered into conversation with our party, and detailed, in short, the manner in which she became an inmate at this institution. Said that her residence was Cin- cinnati; that she and her husband came, as usual, to Phila- delphia; put up at the Continental, and after being there for some time, her husband said he had business at New York, and that Mr. Kingsly, the proprietor, wanted the room they occu- pied, and they would go to another hotel. She said, as a mat- ter of business required his attention to New York, she readily consented to go to another hotel. “She was taken to this place; was met by the landlord, as she supposed ; was shown to her apartments, which, she thought at the time, did not look much like the apartments of so fine a place externally, but supposed it was all right; that after her husband had left, the landlord (as she supposed) fetched her a dish of strawberries, and seemed much affected, and really burst out crying. She could not understand why he seemed so disheartened ; his tears ran in profusion. In a short time, eight or ten days, this doctor died, and she then under- stood she was in an insane institution ; and has been there for twelve years. Her great anxiety to be let out, and manner of expostulating for relief, was truly heartrending. “Now comes the important lesson. Mr. Gordon—the . world-renowned Henry Gordon, the medium—came to stay with us one night; and as we retired late, he was shown to a room adjoining my own, occupied by myself and wife. Miss Holien, a young lady, an inmate of the family, is also a great materializing, mental, and slate-writing medium. She, before retiring, came into our room as usual, and was soon entranced LETTER FROM Colon EL KASE. 331 by Dr. Lee—the man who had died twelve years since, and the man that had charge of this institution at the time this lady was brought there. He soon entranced Miss Holien, and, in a most pitiful manner, told us how he had been accessory to the incarceration of this lady at the institution, and that his conscience had so harassed him for it, that he was in darkness in spirit because he had done that for which his conscience had continually given him pain, remorse, and misery, and plead with us to do nothing that our conscience could not approve; that every word the lady had told us was true, and the remorse of conscience was more than he could bear. During which time the medium was crying most piteously; the control left, and in a very short time the doctor materialized, came walking into our room from the room occupied by Gordon, walked around the bed and disappeared into the hall, and shortly re- turned through the door he first entered, and raised his hands in an imploring attitude, walking backward and forward across the room. Very soon after this an old lady spirit entered and seemed to busy herself in putting things in order about the room. Then a tall lady with flowing robes entered, and passed backward and forward across the room, coming up near, and putting hands on my head. I recognized this spirit as that of my first wife. - “These wonderful materializations are occurrences every few days of different characters, each taking on their peculiari- ties which characterized them in the physical form, and speak to us in thunder tones a great fact, that as we sow we shall reap ; that our every act is an entity, and lives to either bless or condemn us in the life to come. S. P. KASE.” P. S.—I would have you understand that this lady has only become a medium within the past five months—a strict mem- ber of the Baptist Church. As to her gifts, they are numerous, and of the most sublime order. She plays the piano, improvises the tunes of songs as she plays, and frequently the piano raises 332 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. up and beats the time perfectly with the music. She goes into our cabinet (which is movable, in an upper chamber), and spirits materialize and show themselves—as many as ten or twelve of an evening—men, women, girls, and children. I have seen the Princess, as she is called, come out, lead- ing a little child, with another child following, with its hands extended toward her, and all three dematerialize in full view in front of the curtain; and in a short time reappear and demate- rialize, as above stated. Spirits would be clothed differently— some in perfect white; some partly white and black; others with the snowy whiteness dotted with glittering stars; others in full dress. Flowers strew the table in her presence when sitting for that purpose; independent writing under the table without contact. The dawn of the millennium is upon us, and ere long we shall speak face to face with our friends now clothed in the spirit form. CHAPTER XXVII. OPPOSITION TO SPIRITUALISM UNREASONABLE. I HAVE been for many years searching diligently for truth, with all the facilities at my command. I have been willing to re- ceive it from whatever source it may come, knowing that truth is eternal, however it may be misrepesented, and that it will ultimately triumph over all opposition. I know of nothing which has been assailed with more virulence than has modern Spiritualism, so-called, and yet it has been known and acknowl- edged in all ages, and among all nations, so far as we have been able to learn from history. It is the voice of God speaking to man through His appoint- ed ministering agencies, on subjects of the deepest interest, with a fullness and frequency which has increased as genera- tions have come upon the face of the earth, until in these lat- ter days the veil has been almost withdrawn between the two worlds. It is the practical exemplification of the doctrine of the “ministry of angels,” recognized by the Church in all ages, but by some in the present age treated only as a beautiful poetic theory. It illumes with celestial light that which many regard as enveloped in impenetrable darkness. It bridges over the deep, broad, gloomy chasm which sepa- rates this world from other spheres of conscious, intelligent life in the universe, and inaugurates an era of regular communica- tion between embodied and disembodied spirits. Thus, deal- ing with matters which intimately and eternally concern all (333) 334 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. men, and supplying, as it declares itself able to do, abundant and satisfactory evidence in support of its claims, one would have supposed that it would command respectful attention from all, and evoke a universal desire to examine its claims to meet the acknowledged want of mankind in regard to immortality. One would have supposed that a disposition would have been evinced to treat it in a spirit of fairness, with a hope that it might turn out to be a grand elevating truth, and not a delusive and mischievous error. For if it could make good its claims it would seem difficult to conceive how any intelligent and un- biased mind could question that it would in every sense be a great blessing to the world at large. Unfortunately, such is not the spirit in which it has been met. Some turn a deaf ear to its divine voice, and close their eyes against its celestial light, as a subject that does not interest them, and to the truth or falsity of which they are alike indiffer- ent. Others (and especially many scientists) treat it in a spirit of scorn, and consider it as a matter quite beneath their notice. They would deem any time or attention bestowed on an investigation of its claims as worse than wasted. There are others who have assumed an attitude of decided antagonism toward it. The most surprising and painful fact connected with this opposition is that most of it has come from quarters whence it ought to have been least expected. Christians and materialists have been, and still are, the principal opponents of Spiritualism, and from both these classes very different treat- ment might have been expected, considering the character of the subject it deals with, and the professions it makes concern- ing it. I copy from the Harbinger of Zight, published in Melbourne, Australia, what Rev. J. Terryman says upon this subject. He, like myself, has had long experience in the Church as a minis- ter, and, consequently, is better prepared to judge of these matters from actual observation during his ministry, and also his knowledge obtained since his connection with the spiritual OPPOSITION TO SPIRITUALISM UNREASONABLE. 335 movement, which he thinks furnishes the only proof of immor- tality which the nineteenth century possesses: “The opposition of Christians is inconsistent and indefensi- ble in a high degree. They believe in a future state, and re- gard the doctrine of innmortality as one of the most precious and consoling parts of their creed. When harassed with the temptations and cares, and oppressed by the trials and sorrows of the present life, they look forward to the rest that remains for ..he people of God, and are cheered and strengthened by the bright visions that open up before them. But they have only a belief in and hope of future blessedness; the better country is but a pleasing prospect, which may or may not be realized. They have no positive knowledge, no absolute proof of its ex- istence, and there are times when the faith of some Christians in a life beyond is severely tried, and not a little shaken. In spite of themselves, doubts will rise within them, which cloud their prospects and damp their joys. They may attribute those doubts to their evil hearts, their carnal reason, the temptation of Satan, the skeptical spirit of the age, or what else they choose; but they can not deny them, nor get rid of their disturbing in- fluence. Even ministers of the Gospel, after having preached the doctrine of immortality for years, have been known to ex- press doubts as to its truth, and have passed away under a cloud of uncertainty. And seeing that their chief authority for this doctrine—the Bible—is being rigorously assailed on every side, is it surprising that such doubts exist in considerable force P even under the cover of professed belief. “But even if there were no doubts on the subject in the ranks of Christians, our friends are aware that very many out- side their ranks entertain grave doubts, and not a few have reached the point of total denial. The usual array of meta- physical speculations and theological arguments, crowned by the imposing authority of the alleged word of God, have utterly failed to establish this doctrine to their satisfaction ; or to in a reasonable degree neutralize the objections and difficulties 336 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. which surround it, as it presents itself to their minds. This class of unbelievers require evidence on the subject which the churches are unable to supply; and that as a class it is fast increasing its numbers and extending its influence, the ortho- dox sorrowfully admit. To ignore it is impossible; to de- nounce its unbelief as a sin is not to answer it; and to convert it by the usual religious methods is evidently futile. Something more potent than denunciation, more efficacious than prayer, and more convincing than the teachings of the Church and the authority of the Bible, is necessary to win back to a belief in immortality the numbers who have rejected that doctrine. “Spiritualism professes to prove, by evidence that appeals at once to the senses and the judgment, that man has a soul, and that at the death of the body it passes on to a state of con- scious and immortal life. One would, therefore, have thought that Christians would have given the claims of such a system an impartial hearing, and have hailed it with delight if it could have established them. Those who fully believe in immortality would have been all the better for having their faith placed by positive demonstration beyond the possibility of being shaken or destroyed; while to those who, in spite of all their piety, are at times troubled with serious doubts on the subject, it would have been an inestimable blessing to have had those doubts dispelled, and the question forever set at rest by the irresistible logic of facts. And in addition to this, it would have been of incalculable advantage to them in their contest with that increasing army of enemies who treat this great doc- trine as a delusion. And besides proving the reality of a future state, Spiritualism is a revival of super-mundane gifts, and añ exhibition of spiritual phenomena such as were performed by the prophets and apostles of olden times, as the Bible records; which is another reason why it should have met with a favora- ble reception at their hands. But alas, with very few excep- tions, it has been confronted with determined, and in some cases bitter and unscrupulous, opposition. Some of the hard- OPPosition To SPIRITUALISM UNREASONABLE. 337 est, vilest, falsest things ever said against it have been uttered by clerical lips, and in the absence of any personal knowledge of the subject. It is true it was not born in the churches nor introduced to the public under orthodox patronage. Nay, it even challenged some of the teachings of the churches. But that did not justify their opposition to what professed to be a system of facts, and to offer ocular proof of the truth of a vital doctrine. And the history of orthodox opposition to other systems professedly based on facts ought to have been a warn- ing to them, and at least have induced an attitude of suspended judgment until the new claimant had had a fair hearing at the bar of public opinion; but it did not. Their opposition, how- ever, is futile, and will recoil upon themselves. Facts will conquer them ; there are already signs of giving way. Leading minds in their ranks are admitting either the whole or part of the claims of Spiritualism ; and the time will assuredly come when its truth will be admitted in all the churches, and emo- tions of mingled surprise and pain will be felt that believers in immortality should have rejected the only proof of it which the nineteenth century possessed. “With regard to the opposition of materialists, I will only . say a word or two at present. I have considerable sympathy for them in their difficulties, on the subject of a future state. The evidences that satisfy so many on the doctrine of immortal- ity do not convince their judgment. They reject that doctrine from a stern intellectual necessity, and yet that is no doubt in many cases a painful and unpleasant necessity. I can not be- lieve that the majority of materialists are indifferent about the final destiny of themselves and those they dearly love—as to whether life has to be forever extinguished in death, or per- petuated eternally beyond the grave. And there are probably times when certain deep-rooted sentiments of their being come into conflict with the conclusions of their reason, and inspire the wish for, if they do not suggest the possibility of, a future state of conscious and unending life. 338 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “Now, Spiritualism is just such a system as ought to meet any reasonable demands the materialist has to make. From the first, instead of asking for a belief in immortality on the usual traditional and authoritative grounds which orthodoxy insists on, it has professed to demonstrate it by the most conclusive of all evidences, namely, communications from, and actual appearances of, departed spirits. And it has submitted its facts to the scrutiny of the senses and the tests of science, and its philosophy to the tribunal of reason, with a willingness that be- tokened the utmost confidence in the results of a full and im- partial investigation of its claims. And I submit that in thus proposing to supply the very evidence of a future state which materialists asked the churches for, but could not get there- from ; and in openly challenging them to a fair examination of its credentials, it has at least entitled itself to respectful treat- ment at their hands, instead of that scornful and contemptuous opposition and abuse with which many of them have met it. A few have accepted its challenge, and, with scarcely an excep- tion, they have become convinced of its truth. I can not but hope that the rest will go and do likewise ; and the more so because they profess to be Freethinkers; and Spiritualism in its principles and teachings is essentially a freethought move- ment. One thing is certain, that Spiritualism being so largely a system of facts, it will ultimately command universal assent, whatever may be the attitude toward it of the materialists of the present day.” sº THE CHURCH's PAST AND PRESENT. The Church professes to believe that her religion is a revela- tion from God, introduced into the world and established by wonderful miracles and remarkable spirit manifestations and power, and that this spirit-life has been the peculiar inheritance of God's people in every age; that they attend the spread and growth of Christian principles as a natural or logical sequence. Is there not a marvelous discrepancy between what the THE CHURCH's PAST AND PRESENT. 339 Church professes to believe and teach, and real faith and prac- tice in relation to spiritual truths? While she clings to the spiritual facts of the past, she rejects those of the present that are of kindred character and power—manifestations of the natural growth of spiritual principles in the world. While she quotes St. Paul as the highest authority, and the clearest ex- pounder of the Christian religion, when she wishes to teach a doctrine or enforce a dogma, she repudiates to a great extent the earnest exhortation of this apostle to seek after spiritual gifts. He says, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord ; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh in all ; but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit withal.” The great apostle of the Gentiles wisely advises the Christians of his day to exercise caution in their investigation and use of spirit manifestations and power—to “prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good.” How does the Church comply with this injunction at the present time P Is there any liberty in the Christian Church of to-day for the exercise of these spiritual gifts, which were made the tests of Christian faith in the primitive Church P Do not those who are endowed with those gifts, if they happen to be- long to some branch of the Church, guard them carefully from their brethren, for fear of misapprehension, persecution, and reproach P While the Church constantly exhorts her members to attain spiritual growth and newness of life, she is startled out of her proprieties when she witnesses the manifestations of spiritual life among them. Alas, there is no true freedom in these denominational inclosures in the exercise of Christian charity upon this subject. The Church not only denies to her individual members freedom to manifest the gifts of the Spirit, but she presents the curious anomaly of denying the logical results of her own principles. As a natural consequence of this false position of the Church to-day, the spiritual life of 34o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Christianity is obliged to manifest itself outside of her organiza- tions, as in the early days of the first Christian era. The spiritual fruit of centuries can not be obliterated, even though the body that nurtured its growth becomes its most violent an- tagonist. The inspired prophecy concerning the wonderful spirit power that will be manifested in the reasoning age of the world, will be fulfilled in its appointed time, although the Church should declaim against it from every point in the land. “It shall come to pass in those days,” saith the Holy One, “that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants and on my handmaidens will I pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” The prophetic hour has come. The marvelous power of the Spirit is visible in the startling phenomena of the times. The grand preparation of heaven and earth for the second coming is going rapidly forward. 13ut, alas ! the Church, to a very great extent, is deaf to what is heard and seen by those whose ears and eyes are open to the Spirit manifestations, whilst millions outside her pale are rejoic- ing in the truth which has made them free; indeed, her pulpits deal their anathemas upon them for violating an old Israelitish statute made for an ignorant horde just emancipated from hundreds of years of abject slavery. One of the hundreds of these statutes was, the dreamer must be put to death, while the prophecy quoted says they “shall dream dreams.” The Church not only ignores the foundation of her faith—spirit manifestations and power—denying the possibility of the signs which Christ himself says shall follow those that believe, but she pronounces the wide-spread spirit manifestations to be of the devil. Both branches of the Christian Church, Romanists and Prot- estants, alike denounce the spirit phenomena of the present day in the strongest terms of disapprobation. The Pope issues THE CHURCH's PAST AND PRESENT. 341 his bulls declaring them to be wholly of the devil, and forbidding the people to have anything to do with them. The Roman Catholic priesthood have always claimed the exclusive right to spiritual gifts and to the power of working miracles, and they do not like to see their monopoly taken from them, or their . influence weakened. They understand full well that when lay- men and the outside world can exercise the same power, Othello's occupation will be gone—the priest will no longer be the oracle of the people. The Hebrew Church was in a condition, when Messiah came, to stamp the closing seal of the first dispensation of law and authority, and to break the seal of the second dispensation of love and free will to man, and to lead the children of Israel once more out of the wilderness of forms and ceremonies into the king's highway of truth and love, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. But they were bound by the creed of the Fathers, and would not listen to the voice of their Leader. The Christian Church is looking forward anxiously for the second advent, differing among themselves as to how it will come, but like the Jews she is looking, as Christ said to them, observing the face of the sky, but does not discern the signs of the times. Let the Church arise and lay by her sectarian garments, even as her mother lays aside the tiny robes of her infant chil- dren, to show to coming generations how limited were her ideas of the gospel of love before she grew to the full stature of men and women. Having passed our threescore years, nearly two-thirds of which have been spent in the service of the Church, we are naturally led to make the inquiry, as did the prophet of olden time. For many years we have observed changes silently, yet of momentous magnitude, going on in the public mind. We are led to ask, What will be the final result of this commotion ? We have a theory, by no means original, but we feel inclined 342 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. to give our views in answer to the interrogatory which stands at the head of this article. * In looking over the history of the past, we find that the masses have been accustomed to “pin their faith” to others, and con- fide their spiritual interests to those in ecclesiastical authority. This was perhaps unavoidable in the past, but that day has gone forever. The influence of authority has become neutralized, and is gradually passing away before the higher control of enlight- ened reason. The Church in its childhood and youth has felt this influence, but she must now pass on with the world to her maturity, to her noble reasoning age. She must free herself from her youthful robes of special forms and ceremonies of “the let- ter,” which inspiration declares, “killeth, but the spirit maketh alive.” Let her renew herself day by day in the divine life of intelligent use and love, and standing firmly on these great and indestructible principles, reach forward and upward, that she may grow in grace and in the knowledge of God. Then shall the prophecy that “the stone shall become a great mountain and fill the earth,” be fulfilled. But before the heart and mind of the Christian Church can become as she is destined to be, there will be strong antago- nisms between the true and false. This period of her history is at hand, as every attentive observer may see by the “signs of the times.” We are living in the transitory period of the reasoning age of the world and of the second Christian era. Blind adherence to authority has had its day. Materialistic in- fidelity has triumphed over the intellectual portion of the nations until it has well-nigh banished the belief in God and immortality from their circles. The days of each, we think, are well-nigh numbered. Just at the time when there was the greatest necessity for it, there arose a powerful agency, which we believe is destined to remodel these great antagonistic forces, and bring them in harmonious relations to each other. When this is fully accomplished, the inspired children of God, the spiritual rationalists of the reasoning age of the Church and THE CHURCH's PAST AND PRESENT. 343 the world, will reconstruct from the comprehensive gospel of intelligent nature taught by the profound Philosopher of Naza- reth, a broader and higher platform of Christian faith and prac- tice, which will force conviction upon the minds of the people. Then the Sun of Righteousness shall indeed arise and disperse the mists of error from materialism, formalism, and radicalism, and the mild and genial influence of His rays cause the earth to bring forth fruit unto righteousness, and the glorious result shall be the universal reign of love to God and good-will to all mankind. * CHAPTER XXVIII. THE communications below are those received through Dr. J. V. Mansfield, the world-renowned test medium. We asked no question, wrote no name, and yet there are quite a number of tests given, which, to us, are very satisfactory, showing that there must have been those present communicat- ing whose knowledge of what they wrote could not have been possessed by the medium. “May 16, 1878. “DEAR BROTHER WATSON:—My soul rejoices to take you by the hand again. It has been some time since we talked through this medium. I was this morning talking with your friends, Q. C. Atkinson, J. D. Andrews, and Dr. Shelby, of our past, and your mother came and said, ‘Come, come, and talk with Sam'].' Well, brother, we recollect you well. We do not regret the sermons we preached as followers of John and Charles Wesley. Had we lived in the age you do we no doubt should see through the same spectacles you do. Therefore we are not wondering at the light that seems or really does surround you. We often gather about you ; and so do the messengers, as has been told you to strengthen you for the work before you. Bro. Sehon says, tell Bro. Watson his reward awaits him. “Go on, my brother, in the glorious work before you. Angels will guide and bless you. Your brother, “C. B. PARSONS.” “OH, BROTHER WATSON:—Have you ever forgotten my stupid attack on your little book, that or the thoughts of which has annoyed me more than any one particular of my spirit-life. But your big heart never did, never could cherish aught of any one when convinced, as you were, of my total ignorance as to the phenomena you had so graphically portrayed. Your sayings will live and be graven on the hearts of millions, when my (344) COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH DR. MANSFIELD. 345 arguments shall be as waste paper. Let me say I was wrong and you were right, therefore your sayings will live, when mine will be forgotten. Your friend and brother, “THOMAS E. BOND.” “My DEAR SON SAMUEL :—My soul rejoices at being privileged to say a few words to you. Mollie, dear one, is so rejoiced to have spoken with you that she appears like one of twenty years of age. Her joy seems complete when she can talk with you and Ellen. Bettie, darling one, is with me now, and so are your brothers, Wm. Henry and John A., and your sister Mary. What a time of rejoicing is this, my son It reminds me of that time when you and Ellen, and all the dear ones will be re-united with me and your father in one unbroken circle, never more to be separated. “(Wait one moment, Mr. Winchester, and then you can have the medium). “Well, here let me say you, above all, should be so thankful you live in the age you do. Look away to the reward that awaits you, my son. “Your mother, SUSANNA WATSON.” “Thanks for the privilege of saying a word. I did not in- tend to intrude or trespass on time that belonged to your angel mother. I only wished to remind her that I was present and would be happy for a word. “Years, long years have passed since I was known as the Mayor of your beautiful city—no place on earth am I more, or as much, attracted to as that place of my earth-home. I only wish to say that I am grieved to know how wrongfully have my children been treated as regards the property I left them. Tell the dear ones that I and their natural mother grieve at their misfortunes. “I am thankful that I was enabled to educate them abroad— as I did—Leonora, their step-mother, heaven bless her for the care she had for them while she had charge of them. If you See them tell them, father and mother and Leonora are with them, and that all shall meet by and by when parting will be 1) O Ill Ore. . MARCUs B. WINCHESTER.” “How can I be sufficiently thankful for this undisturbed privilege of adding my testimony to this truth of all truths— 15% 346 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. spirit communion. I often talk with John and Charles Wesley, Baxter, Whitfield, Otey, and others, of our struggles in at- tempting to enlighten the world during our life-time, and often ask ourselves why it was the light that you are blessed with was not allowed us. Was it because we had less faith, or lived beneath our privileges P I am not willing to think that, for if ever a man tried to live in the favor of the good God, I claim I did; and yet, with all of my self-sacrifice and constant prayer to know the will of Him I served, I was in doubt of an after- life. Had this light which lights your candle been shown me, how differently would have been my teachings. But it was not the will of our good Father; my eyes were not to see what you so unmistakably see and know to-day. “Cry aloud and spare not, my brother, for as I am, you will, in God's own time be.’ WILBER FISK.” The following communication is from a brother-in-law, who married my only own sister. He was one of the most consci- entious men I ever knew. One fact will illustrate. He was a merchant in Texas, and owed largely to Northern merchants. The Confederates made him pay this to them. When the war was over he worked hard and paid the last dollar of his debts a second time to his creditors in the North, though it reduced him to poverty. He was nearly all his life a very efficient mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He mistook morphine for quinine, and died in a few hours after taking it. He soon communicated with us at our home circle. This was the first he gave us after he passed over : “Will you assist me with your prayers, my much loved ones? I want to talk with you. I am not strong, but as an infant when compared to others who have thrown off the mortality of earth, and garbed themselves in the habiliments of the pure, sinless clime of the Summer-land. I have not attained the height to which I am now struggling and praying to obtain, and will you believe me when I tell you, that although I tried to live uprightly and piously, yet I am not in the enjoy- ment, of that degree of joy which I had held in anticipation up- on my entrance into the spirit-world. “I am satisfied of one thing since I came over, that when a spirit leaves its tenement of clay, it still lingers around its old home, more especially when we feel that we have left those be- hind who needed our kindest and warmest affection, and in gº * THE Home CIRCLE. 347 whom we feel an unbounded interest, and whom we know de- pend upon this weak frame for support and daily advice. We see there is an attraction to our old associations, just as one feels when he leaves a much loved country to become an in- habitant of another. He still loves the old ties, and wishes to renew and enjoy them. I left the earth at a period when I least expected, and at no time could I have felt more averse to the exchange of worlds, but yet feeling at all times that my life was not in my own hands; that He who gave it could take it, yet, had it been left with Him, I might not have passed into another and better world. I have been very happy at times— have met many dear ones, who have come down from their high abodes to welcome me to my new existence, and to tell me of how happy they are. All seem so spiritual and yet so material or earth-like, I am perfectly bewildered. I am at a loss to give you any idea where I am or what it resembles. I was somewhat prepared for the change, having read yours and others' works, but we are unable, even after the lapse of years, to describe to you this dear, precious, and holy land. “There are many things I would like to talk about if I could feel at liberty to say what I desire. I never like any one to do for me what I consider an irksome piece of business. Will any one ask some questions, for I must wait and rest?” [Then the conversation was in reference to the life of this good man, and how devoted to Masonry and to the Methodist Episcopal Church ; how strict to attend to its ordinances, etc., when one of the circle remarked, “I wonder what he thinks of that now P” The control resumed and wrote the following] : “If I did, I was filling many gaps which might have had in- trusions of such a nature as to make me restless, and my time not spent in a beneficial way. You may depend upon it, I am happier now than if I had lived otherwise. “Yes, I am a Methodist still, in one respect better than when on earth, for when I say I am now holding intercourse with loved ones, and fully realize its truth, I am being convinced of a doctrine advanced by the founder of Methodism, and can no longer deny the fact; though I may have many of my former beliefs upon many subjects erased from my mind, I can now say that I must work out my own salvation. I see the neces- sity for prayer and work, and realize that faith without works is dead. Brother Watson, I find that you are nearer right than I 348 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. i. could possibly have been until my spirit eyes were opened, and new developments followed. I bid you God-speed. I shall come again. Yours in spirit-life, WM. B. COOK.” A REMARKABLE TEST. “On Thursday evening, September 20, 1877, about 8 o'clock, a developing circle was being held at the residence of Dr. Samuel Watson, on Union Street in Memphis, for the purpose of developing a new medium. Several old citizens of Memphis were present. A spirit announced himself as John Barneveldt, and said that he was born in 1549 and died in 1619—that he was Grand Pensionary of the States of Holland and was exe- cuted as a traitor. Inquiries were made of all present, and none had ever heard of such a person. The writer was handed a memorandum of the above announcement and requested to examine and find out if such a person had lived. By referring to a “Dictionary of Biography, comprising the most eminent characters of all ages, nations, and professions, edited by R. A. Davenport, and published at Boston in 1832, by Gray and Bowen, I find the following: • * * “‘Barneveldt, John D. Olden; a celebrated Dutch statesman, was born about 1549, and fixed many high offices with great integrity and patriotism ; annong them was that of Grand Pen- sionary of the States of Holland. Being, however, a strenuous opponent of the ambitious projects of Prince Maurice, that prince succeeded in procuring him to be condemned to death on the shamelessly false pretense of having betrayed his coun- try to the Spaniards. The sentence was executed in 1619.' “Can science and philosophy suggest any other hypothesis consistent with those facts, other than that it was the spirit of the departed statesman P VERITAS.” [From the Zondon Medium and Daybreak.] SPIRIT CONTROL AND QUOTATION FROM A CLOSED BOOK. “‘Samuel’ placed his medium's hands on Mr. Burrell's head, and the latter was quickly controlled by Dr. Monck's own mother. We then asked for a trance-address through Dr. Monck. Mr. Briggs suggested the subject. The entranced medium at once rose, and for more than half an hour poured forth a flood of eloquent language and thought, which was a CONCLUSIVE PROOF. 349 masterly and exhaustive exposition of the subject. To test the spirit's ability to quote from a book, I held Dr. Watson's book, ‘The Clock Struck Three,’ in my hand, and desired ‘Samuel’ to favor us with an appropriate quotation therefrom, while I kept it closed in my hand. He accordingly introduced a quotation of a whole page from the book, and gave us the exact number of the page. The extract was a most appropri- ate illustration of the subject of the address, and, as we after- ward found, was given verbatim without the slightest error. (1). Now Dr. Monck did not know, prior to the séance, that an address would be requested, therefore he could not have got the quotation by heart beforehand; and (2), this would have been further impossible, because no one knew the book I should select. I took it off-hand from the shelves of my library. (3). It could not have been thought-reading, for none of us had ever read the passage then quoted.” AN QTHER REMARKABLE TEST. In the first communication we received from Gen. Thos. Pivers, published in “Clock Struck One,” he put a W. as his double initial. We knew this was an error, supposing it to be a freak of Dr. Mansfield's pencil; yet we did not feel at liberty to erase it. TRUTH, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is our maxim. We had known Rivers in his college days, and was present when he graduated at LaGrange in 1838. We had corresponded upon the subject of spirit communion, when he was our member of Congress, but never saw or heard of his having a W in his name until it was put there in his communi- cation, which contained a number of facts that we did not then know, but afterward learned to be true of persons, names, and things. The opponents of Spiritualism made sport of Gen. Rivers' not affixing his proper name to his communication. I was per- plexed myself and could not account for the error. Calling on Dr. Mansfield in August of last year, without asking for a com- munication from Gen. Rivers, Dr. M. was controlled and gave me one; I make a short extract : & “I was pleased to know you finally ascertained that I gave the initial right in my name. Some took exceptions to it—but mother dear soon verified it to a dot.” The annual Conference met at Sonnerville, Tenn., 1872, 35o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. after the publication of “Clock Struck One.” While at this Conference we were invited to dine with a friend with whom the mother of Gen. Thos. Rivers was stopping. As soon as she came in the parlor she said in substance: “Bro. Watson, my son Thomas appeared to me the other night, and said: ‘Mother, you think it strange that I had W in my name when I signed it to a communication I gave to Bro. Watson on the 24th of May, and published in his “Clock Struck One.” Don't you remember, mother, when I was a boy I was so excitable that the boys gave me the nickname of Wasp, and that I al- ways signed my name with a W in my boyhood days? Look at any of my old copybooks and you will always find a W in my name.' She said she had not thought of it for twenty years.” Here is a small, but significant fact, known only, perhaps, to one mortal person, and she not thinking of it for a score of years, and more than a thousand miles from the medium, whom she never saw. “Straws show which way the wind blows,” and it will be found that these little “ erroneous initials,” as we thought them to be, can not be explained even upon the theory of the celebrated Dr. Carpenter of “unconscious cere- bration.’ CHAPTER XXIX. HOME CIRCLES. WE urge those who wish to investigate the subject of spirit communion to form circles at home. This is the most satis- factory mode of testing the truth of the phenomena. There is no motive for deception. We copy the rules for forming cir- cles : “Inquirers into the phenomena of Spiritualism should begin by forming circles in their own homes, with no Spiritualist or professional medium present. Should no results be obtained on the first occasion, try again with other sitters. One or more persons possessing medial powers without knowing it, are to be found in nearly every household. “Let the room be of a comfortable temperature, but cool rather than warm—let arrangements be made that nobody shall enter it, and that there shall be no interruption for one hour during the sitting of the circle. “I let the circle consist of four, five, or six individuals, about the same mumber of each sex. Set round an uncovered wooden table, with all the palms of the hands in contact with the top surface. Whether the hands touch each other or not is of usually no importance. Any table will do, just large enough to accommodate the sitters. The removal of a hand from the table for a few seconds does no harm, but when one of the sitters breaks the circle by leaving the table, it sometimes, but not always, considerably delays the manifestations. “Before the sitting begins, place some pointed lead-pencils and some sheets of clean writing-paper on the table, to write down any communications that may be obtained. “People who do not like each other should not sit in the same circle, for such a want of harmony tends to prevent manifes- tations, except with well-developed physical mediums; it is not yet known why. Belief or unbelief has no influence on (351) 352 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the manifestations, but an acrid feeling against them is fre- quently found to be a weakening influence. “Before the manifestations begin, it is well to engage in general conversation or in singing, and it is best that neither should be of a frivolous nature. “The first symptoms of the invisible power at work is often a feeling like a cold wind sweeping over the hands. The first manifestations will probably be table-tiltings or raps. “When motions of the table or sounds are produced freely, to avoid confusion, let one person only speak; he should talk to the table as to an intelligent being. Let him tell the table that three tilts or raps mean ‘Yes,’ one means ‘No,' and two mean “Doubtful,” and ask whether the arrangement is understood. If three signals be given in answer, then say, “If I speak the letters of the alphabet slowly, will you signal every time I come to the letter you want, and spell us out a message P’ Should three signals be given, set to work on the plan proposed, and from this time an intelligent system of com- munication is established. “Afterward the question should be put, “Are we sitting in the right order to get the best manifestations P’ Probably some members of the circle will then be told to change seats with each other, and the signals will afterward be strengthened. Next ask, ‘Who is the medium ?' When the intelligence asserts itself to be related or known to anybody present, well- chosen questions should be put to test the accuracy of the statements, as the alleged spirits are found to exhibit all the virtues and all the failings of humanity. “A medium is usually a person of an impulsive, affectionate, and genial nature, and very sensitive to mesmeric influences. Mediums are of both sexes. “The best manifestations are obtained when the medium and all the members of the circle are strongly bound together by the affections, and are theroughly comfortable and happy. Family circles with no strangers present, are usually the best. “Possibly at the first sitting of a circle symptoms of other forms of mediumship than tilts or raps may make their ap- pearance, while by sitting regularly two or three times a week the manifestations will rapidly develop. “Among the varied phases of the phenomena already observed by investigators, may be noted the following: Movement of physical objects, both with and without contact with the sit- HOME CIRCLES, 353 ters; direct writing, drawing, and voices; entrancement; trance and inspirational utterance ; temporary materialization; in- voluntary writing; healing, visions, impressions; as well as many phenomena observed in the study of mesmerism. “Possibly symptoms of other forms of mediumship, such as trance or clairvoyance, may develop ; the better cless of mes- sages, as judged by their religious and philosophical merits, usually accompany trance and clairvoyant manifestations, rather than the more objective phenomena. After the man- ifestations are obtained, the observers should not go to the other extreme, and give way to an excess of credulity, but should believe no more about them or the contents of the messages, than they are forced to do by undeniable proof.” We heartily indorse the above, copied from the Zondon Spiritualist. Let all who desire to know the truth form such circles. They will do nore than any other plan of investigat- ing to convince inquirers that their loved ones are near them. What we have realized in our own family has been worth more than all we have witnessed from Boston to Texas for more than a score of years. We have to a great extent lost interest in public séances, hence we rarely attend them, and when we do it is only to aid others in their investigations. There are many families who have home circles where they commune with loved ones statedly. To them the gates are not only ajar, but the veil separating the two worlds is almost removed. If conditions are obtained, they will not only write lengthy communications, but will, as they are doing in a number of families, show themselves, without any cabinet preparations for materialization. Our experience in our home circle is very satisfactory. We have long since ceased to feel any interest in physical manifestations. We have seen all that we ought, perhaps, to expect of materializations. Tests we have been having for Some twenty years, so that we should feel ashamed of ourself if we demanded more ; but, the home altar increases in interest. It is here that we can meet loved ones, and have communion Sweet with those who have “lived and loved together.” We give the little message below from one who shared our joys and sorrows for a quarter of a century: “We are all here to-night. The singing is delightful, but is not such as we hear in the spirit-world. We sing the angels' 354 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. songs, but feel so much interest, that we leave our beautiful homes to visit loved ones here, struggling for spirit communion, as we know some of you are. “‘Jesus paid it all,” but you must pay the same, so far as God requires it of you. Your path may lead through deep waters and fiery trials, but you must tread the ‘wine-press’ alone. Your duty must be done; He had help from the spirit- world, and you will have it, too, when your trials come. Look up, friends, the time is near when light will burst from the spirit-spheres such as never flooded the world before. Spirit- ualism must battle for the cause which Christ died for. You must work; for much must be done before the world will see the beauty, and receive the spiritual theory. God will, in His own good time, send His ministers to battle with sin and infidelity in such power, as to make the foundations of all opposition crumble to dust. “Live holy and prayerful. The prize will be reached after a while. Make the subject of spirit control the burden of your prayers. God will give you the desires of your hearts when He sees you will serve Him; let others do as they may. The spirits of your loved ones are here. The harmonious con- ditions attracted us, and we wanted to let you know, hence the medium was impressed to write. We love to come here. Love to all, good-night. MOLLIE.” GONE BEFORE. Our son, John Wesley, who was a little over twenty-two years old, left us on the night of February 18th, after a lingering ill- ness of consumption for several months. In a few hours after he left his body he appeared to three persons, one of them two miles distant. Some may think this a delusion, but well-estab- lished facts settle this question. Mr. Wesley gives a number of such in his journal, and says a spirit finds no difficulty in traveling thousands of miles in a moment. The next day was the time for our regular weekly seance of an hour with our medium of the Inner-Life Department of the Magazine. On our arrival she told us that John and his mother were there before day; that he looked embarrassed when she spoke to him ; he remarked he was in a strange place and in a strange country, of which he knew but little; he did not expect to go over so soon—was taken by surprise. HOME CIRCLEs. 355 When the medium was entranced her control for near an hour told us many things of profoundest interest in regard to our son and the spirit-world, but as he said he would write out an account of his entrance into spirit-life—how he felt and what he saw—we will wait to hear from him. There are a few points, however, that we will notice. It was said he had been confined to his room so long, he wished to look around before leaving for his spirit-home. Spirit friends would attend his funeral that afternoon and go with his remains to Elmwood, and the next morning at six o'clock they would leave for their home in the third sphere, and by the law of progression ascend “up higher.” That he was now very weak, but there was an elec- tric vapor, condensed by spirit-power, that would strengthen him that he may be prepared to go forth to-morrow. This nec- tar which they infuse into the new-born spirit will enable him to return in a week, and perhaps give his experience. In a month, it was thought, he could materialize so as to be recog- nized. He spoke of the body he had left as an “old coat he had thrown off.” --~~~~ * ~~~s. At the grave our medium, who is Clairvoyant, 'saw a host of spirits, and John was supported by his grandfather Dupree and his mother. He greatly desired to impress the young man who placed the cross of flowers on his grave, with a sense of his presence and how he loved him. Soon he wrote the following: “Pa, I would like to say something to-night in regard to my work in spirit-life, and how that work not only elevates those whom I help to see the way of progression, but how it makes my spirit grow into that knowledge which is the result of pro- gressive development. I come to earth to commune with you often, but as I did in the body feel restrained by the fact that Johnnie never could make free with Pa, not because you repulsed me intentionally, but I was sensitive, and knowing I did not deserve your approbation, always expected some reproof or some advice, which I felt was for my good. I did not obey the law which tends to the soul's growth, but followed the blind guide faith, believing that after all I would cast my entire bur- den, as the preachers told me, upon the “Lamb for sinners slain,' and all would be right. But, Pa, I did not leave the body in that dark and mysterious cloud, for glimpses of bright Sunlight beamed upon my mind from the angel world, which 356 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. made me feel that I was not going to hell's fiery furnace, but to a sphere where all my misdeeds must be blotted out or I should not receive the crown of life. “My mother, who passed over before me, was my teacher, and told me to grow by constant prayer to God, that He would show me by the light of truth what I must do to cancel my wrong-doing. I did, and angels upon wings of fire it seemed to me, so bright were they, came and said, “As ye mete it shall be measured to you.' I had often read that passage of Script- ure, but never understood it had reference to the law of recom- pense, which is the great Law of God, and must be obeyed in spirit as well as mortal life. I saw I must do to those more miserable than I, what had been done for me by those higher in the scale of progressive knowledge. So I began to tell the spirits in the prisons of darkness what those bright ones who came to me, notwithstanding it was “afar off,' told of heavenly communion and peaceful abodes where all is beauty, joy, and love. By doing this work as directed my soul grows—my spirit expands, and rising far above the prisoner's hell, I tell to higher ones the glad news that they are coming—the dark- ness is disappearing and light is breaking through their prison walls. “Now I will go, but come again before long when I can see, as is the case to-night, no one having a better right to the home medium's organism, and I will tell you more of Iny con- stant service in the spirit-world and how I am blessed thereby. “JoHNNIE.” FROM OUR FIRST-BORN, WHO PASSED AWAY IN CHILDHOOD. “Yes, Papa, your expression is true in more ways than one, You are growing old, and ere many winters you shall enter the home we are preparing for you. We will meet you and bear you to your lovely home. Now, Pa, do not feel sad ; but of this you are aware, for you often remark that in the course of nature you can not live many years. You and Uncle Kendall are fast approaching the end of your time. But there are ways of ones prolonging their lives, and in this you very often err. We often wish you were with us; but then because we are so happy in this beautiful home of ours, we do not want to de- prize those dear to you on earth from your beloved presence and precious society. We will wait and watch till the time HoME CIRCLEs. 357 comes, and then we will enjoy it for all eternity. Then another mission will open for you : that of ministering to those on earth as we do to you through the medium of Aunty and Ma Ellen. Now just think, Papa, how many remarks are made which you think are of no meaning at the time ; but we hear and are impressed with the force of their meaning. I will not presume to offer advice to one who is always ready and fully competent to give advice. “Excuse me when I say you must live nearer to God; pray much for that comforting grace which is bestowed upon the earnest request made. I am your child, and but a small one when leaving you ; but I have ripened into manhood, or into maturity of manhood in years. I wish I could impress upon all to live near to God. Serve Him by striving to do His will. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Be kind and affectionate one to another ; administer to the wants of those who are needy; raise the fallen ; feed the hungry; clothe the naked, and in many ways act the father and brother to all. “I go, my dear Papa. I am improving in spiritual knowl- edge all the time. Mamma says she will not write to-night. “Your son in spirit-life, ALLEN.” “Well, Samuel, the children have made some allusions to your and Ellen's newly bestowed enjoyment, and whilst I enjoy fountains and streams of beautiful, pure water, I enjoy yours too. That's right—do all you can to make your home charm- ing, for your earthly home needs all the artificial charms you can give it; but when you all come over you will then enjoy happiness to perfection. I want you to ask me some questions. “MOLLIE.” Question by Dr. K. P. W.-“What kind of people have you around you, and what are your associations P” Answer.—“If you want to know what we have here as a class of persons for our associates, we are very much situated as you are. We have our communities, and from those vicinities we choose the ones who are most congenial with our spirit natures. We love all and try to help all, especially the igno- rant, and those who did not arrive at the standard of intelligence nor morality. We have some who were but poorly prepared for the place they now occupy, but by the help of advanced spirits they have passed beyond into a higher degree, all from 358 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. the influence of us who work and intercede for their advance- ment. We are all happy in that sphere, and we make ourselves happier by our active employments in doing good and elevating those who now regret their misspent lives. We have some of all nations, but I make only a few my associates; for I find many who are more congenial with my ideas of society. We who have attained to a higher degree of spiritual light and knowl- edge, meet to talk and pray, that we may diffuse an influence which will spread as a wave does from the intrusion of a stone or pebble. “Now I think I understand what you mean. I want to an- swer your question as to what plane spirits move upon. “There are some greater attractions or a greater identity to one country than to another. I love to linger among not only my family loved ones, but in the midst of my own nation. I was only a woman in private life, and did not reach out for any- thing pertaining to a public character ; consequently I linger around all those whose lives correspond with mine. None are different from, but are just as they were on earth. You will always be interested in medicine and engaged in some advent- urous pursuit, whilst the fathers or leaders of your country would be lingering near the proceedings of the same. The poor laborer will haunt his old pursuits. The minister will be often near and in the pulpit. The woman who is often a vis- itor to hovels of poverty, will often be found wandering near and in them, soothing by her influence the poor sufferer. “In my own judgment, though I don't profess to know, but only express my opinion in regard to medicine, I do most posi- tively believe that there is a magnetism in parted by the one who prepares the medicine, and by giving it he also administers a magnetism which is all the better for the patient. There are some whose magnetism is of a repelling character, and I be- lieve the magnetism in parted through the medicine would be injurious to the patient. Now, I am not posted, and this is only my opinion on the question, as I understand it. “Good-night ! MOLLIE.” SPIRIT-WIFE'S ADVICE TO US. “You, my husband, have a work in the lecture-field, and you must buckle on the armor, and go as Jesus said among wolves. There are wolves and lions, in the way of the progressive car HOME CIRCLEs. 359 of Spiritualism. These must be driven from the way, and it never can be done by scientific or phenomenal lecturers. I mean those who do not look at this subject from the spiritual plane. There is more worldly applause, and a great name de- sired by many in the lecture-field, than the good to be rendered to humanity. Clouds are overspreading the skies, and they must be dispelled by the light of the spiritual sun. You feel this, and you know it, for there is an influence about you which impresses the thought that Spiritualism must be elevated, be- fore the world will be benefited by it—before it will satisfy souls who have almost starved upon Church teachings. The Church has degenerated spiritually, and her people are in darkness and doubt. Something must come to their relief, or they will drift back into materialism and infidelity. Clear and demonstrable proof of the soul's immortality can and will be brought to the Church through Spiritualism or spirit com- munion; if the lives of those who stand as exponents of its doctrines, will leave the phenomenal plane, and rise higher and higher to that degree of spirituality which will be a living and abiding testimony that their religion is from God, and meets every spiritual need of the soul, their good works and pure teachings will need no other commentary to explain the Chris- tianity they possess. “Now, when you go to the camp-meeting, go in the spirit of Christ, and He will abide with you, and give you such an unction from the Christ-heavens as will cause your hearers to exclaim, ‘How his faith reaches up, and how the promise comes according to it.' Spiritual baptism will follow your preaching as it did Peter's, if you will only look for it, and feel you are a messenger sent from God to do His work, while angels strengthen, as they did the Master in His earthly pilgrimage. I am going with you, and your band who are aiding in your in- tellectual efforts will go too. They are with you, and they are Christian Spiritualists. No devilish or corrupt teachings will they give to the world—but are striving to teach that religion º comes from God, and is gentle, peaceable, and full of ight. “Yours is a responsible trust, and you must by prayer and Constant supplication, fit yourself for such responsibility. When you come over, which will not be long, for life is rapidly ad- vancing, I will meet you and give you that welcome I so ardently long to do. My home is in waiting for you—all 360 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. beautiful and bright. The children often say, ‘Ma, how long papa stays away.' We will be happy when you do come, and heaven will be brighter for it. Your stay upon earth is en- abling you to gather sheaves with which to fill your spiritual garner. “Good-night. MOLLIE.” “PAPA —Lonely and melancholy were your feeling and re- flections this afternoon while wandering o'er the ground where once our young and happy feet bounded so joyously. Many happy days were ours—many hours were spent in Sweet medi- tation, and where you felt the presence of loved ones, who had passed over the river of Life, and who came to make their presence manifest by touches so gentle and playful. You were happy when in this delightful season of solemn com- munion. We have talked, my dear papa, when at the quiet resting-places of the bodies of our dear little brothers and sisters, little thinking then that their spirit-forms were by us, so near that if the veil could have been removed from our vision, we might have seen them in perfect symmetry of form. I was with you, dear papa–knowing your intentions, I awaited your movements from the tomb of Uncle Tommie, to attend you in your wanderings. “Yes—nearly all who lived and loved together in the dear old home of my childhood, are now inmates of a more beauti- ful one in a land of delight, where we are fitting up mansions for you and your dear ones who are still behind. We long to see the happy time when we shall clasp hands and embrace so fondly the dear ones in the bright home of the beautiful be- yond. Your earthly homes are much more congenial with your earthly feelings and desires, but when you are severed from your earthly frame, which is now becoming enfeebled with age, you will not then find anything to compare with the change of abodes. We can not describe to you in any lan- guage which you could fully understand of our beautiful, happy homes ; but when we convey you to it, you shall then know and see for yourself. No poet has ever conceived of, nor de- scribed by his imaginative skill, the perfectness of the sum- mer-land. You shall know each other, you shall find a sufficient compensation in the future abode of happiness for all you suf- fer below. Many have been your persecutions, and many have ridiculed you, many besetments; but all this will insure HoME CIRCLEs. 361 for you a recompense of reward, and we as your children try to lift you up by the power of our influence, and we want you to be just as happy as it is your privilege to be. We visit you, and oh, what a quiet hour to meet you here at your fireside, and recall the memories of happy days, and point you to a far happier home awaiting you. Your mission has not yet been filled, you have not yet run your race; but when you shall have laid your garments by and shall enter the place we are now fitting up for you, we shall all enjoy. a blessed reunion amid the throng of happy, loved inhabitants of the spirit-world. “I am your dear loving daughter in spirit-life, - ** BETTIE.” Just before leaving home to fill a lecture engagement for a month, my father-in-law wrote through my daughter now in the spirit-land, as follows: “Your labors will be productive of good. Many spirit friends will be with you, and inspire your mind. We can look down the future, and see incalcuable good that will result from your efforts there and elsewhere.” In answer to the question about his entrance to the spirit- world, he wrote: “I was for days, before passing over, in the presence of my wife and friends. They were as constant in their attendance as you and Mollie were, and of course while regretting to leave you and the child of my love, yet I gladly entered the delight- ful place which had been within my view for days. I lingered for several years around the earth, but was with my spirit friends part of the time. I felt great interest itſ my earth-ties, and my nature was always to be busy about material matters, and while I lived in the fear of God, hoping to get to heaven when I died, I was by nature a business man, and I really have not quite left it all behind, for I take an interest in all your affairs, and several others I see striving to do good to their fellow-men. If I can help you any way either spiritually or temporally I am always on hand, and while others come, of whom you have never known are around you, and aid you in your talks to the people, it is by common consent left to me to advise about the material. You have always been inspired to SOme extent. I6 362 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “But how I am wandering from my subject. Well, after I began to feel that I was really done with earth myself, I went to our spirit-home. There I found the dear little children that we had buried in Mississippi—all so happy to see me, and oh, what unspeakable happiness I have enjoyed with our dear ones here. I wish your eyes could have been opened when you were mourning the death of your precious child, and to see the rapture with which he was greeted here. He knew his mamma, and her soul was full, for she felt that while you grieved deeply for him, that it was best for all, and if you could See them as they are now, you would not so willingly wait the appointed time of your coming. When I return they will have so many questions to ask me. They are prepared to meet you when you come, more joyously, and with a greater flourish than the conquerors of old met with. While all nearly are men and women grown. When you come they will appear to you as when they left earth. They often wonder if you will know them. You ought indeed to be a happy man. “ALLEN DUPREE.” From our father, who had been about forty years a Methodist class-leader: Question.—“You were nearly all your life an active member of the Methodist Church. Tell me what you think of it now, and of my course in withdrawing from it.” “In reply to your question I shall say that at the time you did it, I thought that perhaps you were acting too hastily, and that by remaining in the church as you had done for years, you perhaps could exert an influence that was needed at the time. Now understand me, these were my convictions when the intention"was first consummated into a determination ; but as time developed so much that demanded an independent, manly, and above all a Christian course in the decision, I was constrained, without reluctance or any remorse of conscience, to influence you to act as you did. “Having heard you express a desire, on last evening, to know something of the place, and the kind of abode you are to have when you shall have thrown off the mortal, laid aside the old covering which has served you for so many years, and which you will see no more when you take upon you the immortal and ever-existing body, which shall be blessed and faultless; for at death or the final departure you surrender all which has HOME CIRCLEs. 363 been of temporary use to you, to appear in what will be most suited, or better adapted in this your new place of existence. “You shall retain the natural enough to know, to remember, to see as you will desire into the past, but nothing of regrets for past neglects in onission of duties shall mar your peace; you may be cognizant of many things which you now think would produce pain and sorrow, but you are so changed that you only endeavor to ameliorate these wrongs and griefs, and your sorrows as you regard them now will prove to be only of a sympathetic character, which are impulsive and come and go in an instant. Your pity will be intensified, and your love for the erring anq unfortunate will be sanctified. Do not allow yourself to enter- tain the thought that the troubles, trials, and sore temptations which overtake your friends and loved ones will cause you grief. Oh, no, I hope, my son, you will rise higher than the state which is much like the earthly. Aspire beyond the en- tanglements of Sordid dust. “We often know from sympathetic impressions of that which annoys and perplexes our dear ones, and we can by the power which we possess, do much toward assuaging or ren- dering these things less grievous and powerful, and can impart strength which we obtain from the ‘Fountain Head’ for pre- venting the progress of such things, and often bring about re- sults different from those apprehended. We do not claim to have any power, only as embassadors. We are endowed, and act as instruments. We are en)phatically sent by God to bless and comfort His dear children, whom He loves as none but He can bestow; and I would remind you that you are always re- membered, and as all His children are known as sparrows, He never förgets or passes one by unattended. “You want to know what is the character of our employ- ment. “This is as varied as it is on earth, that no one can be able to tell you. “You can better imagine what will be best suited to your heavenly nature. The spirit has, in its growth and perfect development, emerged into a sea of usefulness and blissful de- light, and in its expansive field it seeks employment in which it will find the most happiness. I can not tell what that would be ; it is for you to choose yourself. I know not what your name shall be, but I know you will possess the character- istics of the natural man and name. 364 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. “We have what we merit, and you are the agents to de- termine that. You are endowed with all the faculties which are necessary to make the perfect natural man, and also the spirit-man. “There is a diversity of talent, and many whom we thought by their opportunities given them for development and im- provement in every phase, would be far advanced, are still inhabiting the places nearest the earth, still clinging to their old haunts and have the same desires and emotions springing up. They have not become spiritual enough to leave the earth. They have not realized that great change at death which so many depended upon to find refuge, even after a life spent in folly and debauchery. Their confidence in saving dying grace did not enhance their future happiness as they thought, hence now they rise by degrees into a heavenly state. These are they who exercised faith without works. - “Then there is another class, whom I term the outcast, who have never known God in any of their ways. “They are miserable; yes; I can not express their unhappy condition. They are calling now for mercy; but how, when, and where shall they find it, is the question. We know that when we say they shall find peace and comfort, now that they have crossed the river of death (as it is often termed, but should be life), it is ridiculed by those who are wise in their own conceit ; but alas for them. There is redemption beyond the grave, and there is salvation for all who shall call for mercy, even when we can see them in the land of misery. The same effect can be had by preaching to those in prison as was done in the past, and this is the mission of some (saving them) yet; yes, redeeming them from these places of deg- radation. This is one of the beauties of the spiritual philoso- phy : Progression for all. This should not be used as a plea for neglect in the earthly state. No, not at all. There is tor- ture; there is untold and inconceivable anguish to the one who misspends his life and permits his career to be blemished with stains of crime and guilt. “I shall now desist, and when I come again, my children, to you, I shall begin right where I left off. “Your loving father, “LEVIN WATSON.” “My SoN :—In the quietude of this hour, when your thoughts should be most naturally upon heavenly things and HoME CIRCLEs. 365 the world closed out, it is the time for our communion to be sweet and to be mostly enjoyed. I have thought that at such a time it is most appropriate for this; it is at this hour you are about to lay your bodies down to rest, and angels do their vigils keep, and to soothe your minds to rest, we come to await your time for repose. Your bodies need this rest, your mind needs it, and nature is right in providing the restorer, which is sleep. Your bodies are to rest after a while forever. Now, what do I mean by this P. There will be a period in every human being's life when nature expires and the being ceases to exist; he dies in one sense, and the common accep- tation of the expression is, dead. What does that imply P I have never been dead, but I passed through the ordeal called death. When nature expired, then the spiritual appeared, and I was not as much changed as I thought I should be. I knew myself. I could identify myself. I saw the scenes of earth. I saw my loved ones weeping for me, and I saw a different world around me, yet I thought: ‘Have I left the earth P or, where am I?’ I had met friends whom I knew had passed away years before. I saw a beautiful world ; heard singing; saw happy, radiant countenances; heard the sweetest music; saw little children whom I very soon loved. 1 saw that I was at a happy place, and a beautiful one, and asked the question : ‘Is this Heaven P’ It is not agreeable with my former teach- ings. I looked and saw, as I thought, my natural body, but yet I did not. It was only the spiritual element clothed with natural, enough to render me recognizable. I left my old self and took upon me just enough to be known by my family. The Spiritual is the part which exists, and it assumes the proper identity to make myself known. “I see no throne, no Jesus, but I immediately felt the pres- ence and power of His influence. It permeates all the heaven- ly spheres. I then reverted again to the time of my departure. I said I died, and after I was consigned to my resting-place, expecting to be raised again to the judgment, agreeable to my teachings, I saw myself, and thought amazement would take me by storm. The appearance of our spiritual bodies depends upon the cultivation of our minds, and as we ripen into a deeper love for Jesus and His word, our countenance becomes radiant, and hence the exclamation is often used, “How beautiful that spirit looks l’ We display with our spiritualized natures that by which we will be identified; for how else can we know and be known P 366 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “We are taught that the spiritual element of man lives on and on, and what we termed the resurrection had already come and there would be no more resurrection from the fact that there are degrees of happiness, and we enjoy them accord- ing to the Christian development made on earth. “When my life terminated on earth I did not cling to earth, for it had no special claims upon me nor charms for me. I first had a glimpse of my future home, and this made my de- sire to see and enjoy it so intense that my rapture knew no bounds. I exclaimed, “Farewell, vain world, I am going to meet my reward. Earth has no more for me to do. Loving friends know I am happy; the parting scene is over, the strug- gle is past, and I have triumphed over death and the grave, and I am bound for Canaan's shore.’ My future home heaves in view, my dear ones whom I had seen pass away (but never before knew how), met me as I expired and conducted me through a realm I can't describe, nor can any one else. . I felt as though I was conscious, and yet I was not. I was in the influence of my Saviour and His angels—His messengers were with me. They spoke as with voices from some distant clime, ‘Come, dear one, we will take you to your place designed for you. Your life on earth was chaste, pure, holy, and useful. You need no judge more than you have had.' “The character of our homes and the employment of our future life is something which interests us as much as it does those who still inhabit the earth. “My home is not what it will be after a while. There is something held in reserve for us, but what that is we do not know any more than you do what yours shall be. “There is a place where our treasure is, and where we have laid it up. We shall receive it, and to the extent of our deeds done and purity of life, we shall possess the delights of a well- chosen home. I can not say what yours shall be, but I believe you will enjoy a rich inheritance and a happy reunion, and when you shall have spent your last days upon earth you can then be better prepared to know and see for yourself what employment will be most congenial with your spiritual nature. You can then select that which will be the most conducive to happiness, for we all enjoy our new existence just in proportion to what we have made it. “A reunion of dear friends, we can assure you ; for many are waiting for you, and this life would not, nor could it be a HOME CIRCLEs. 367 happy exchange but for this reunion. This desire wells up in every-day life, and naturally the question suggests itself, so as to be a powerful incentive. “I look with regret upon all who seem to be so unnindful of many things yet to learn respecting their duties to their fel- low-men. I fear many think that their lives are hid with Christ. Many do believe it, but seem to care so little about it. There is a contentment which almost lulls some to sleep and induces them to fold their hands, and never have an aspiration. (I do want to spend more time upon these points). “Before I go farther I will return to the first part of my writing and satisfy you more clearly in regard to my own home and employment. There is a disposition upon the part of some to consume much of their time in the indulgence of a curiosity as to what kind of a place I call my home. “In the first place, all who have the greatest affinity for each other and seek their companionship, are associated to- gether. You may be surprised as to the number and who are nearest to me. It is a world for continued effort to benefit yourself and others. - “Oh, what a mistaken idea indulged in by many that our activity ceases with the exit of the spirit. “Heavenly condition would not be such to me if I had to remain in a lethargic state, and if my happiness consisted only in praising Him forever. “I do not mean to say we do not sing and praise, but there is a way to do it which is congenial with our spiritual nature. We praise Him; we magnify His holy name; we adore Him ; but our demonstration is very different from former teachings. It is the most natural way to produce happiness with all, though many never on earth enlisted in the work for Jesus, while some who go about doing good and endeavoring to engage in some useful training; others never manifested any but a disposition to live for themselves, caring nothing for others. We find a Selfish class here who have intruded themselves upon us. “I left the main object of my communication, which was to tell you of my home. ..My friends stopped to show me my field of labor, in which I take much pleasure, and find joy and com- fort. It was assigned to me because it was well adapted to me. I passed on through a lovely realm. It did not look as I thought it would—oh, no–till finally I was informed by my friends that there was my home. 368 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. “I met friends, and we all seemed happy. My son, I wish I could tell something which would satisfy you, but I can not. The family do not stay together ; some are beyond me and Some are below me. I find that in consecration of our lives and purposes to the service of God and love to man, will add to the degree of happiness in our life. You never lose anything by your attention to them, and you will be fully compensated for any labor you performed in the earth-life. “We are permitted to mingle with our friends, and of course that is heaven to me. How delightful to contemplate the time when you shall lay down the armor of life and rest in peace at home. “To the Christian man and all followers, I say: work faith- fully for Jesus, and you will be rewarded. I want to impress upon you that whatsoever you sow, that you shall reap. An active life on earth will insure enjoyment in the happy world of light. * “When we see any one desirous to search into the hidden treasures which lie beyond the mortal, it is with delight that we gratify them, as far as we are capable of doing so, but many things have not been revealed to us, and which I consider too wonderful for us to comprehend. Their magnitude is too great for us. I have given to you all, in simplicity and truth, just what my spiritual eyes have seen, and heart felt ; and now what more can I do or say ? I have told you that my home is not now what it will be ; that I shall yet ascend into a more rapturous delight, and drink still deeper from the fountain love of my Saviour. I can not say that my home resembles that of earth, and yet many things remind me of earth. Trees, rivers, the most beautiful pearly streams, birds warbling their sweet music, flowers, the like of which I never saw before. We, roam o'er the plains and gather together to have what we term praise meetings. Friends you have known meet with us, though they are not of our realm, but who wish to be strength- ened by contact with us. It seems there is an atmosphere which surrounds spiritual beings, so attractive to a congenial nature, and like seeks its own. Each affinity finds one in our precious and hallowed existence. I am not saying more than has been said before. “We are with our loved ones when we will it, and we cherish their society very much ; and we feel that it is indeed a HOME CIRCLEs. 369 heavenly country—one that is unchangeable and endures for- ever. “After meeting our dear ones as they pass on to their homes and we are conducted to ours, we feel that it is more than we deserve. Now, will you come to our home so bright and happy P I want all my dear ones to meet me. Live such lives as you will wish you had done when you are called to cross the ‘beautiful river.’ Iloved ones will meet you and con- duct you to your home fitted up for you. This home is one of beautiful surroundings, and you will enjoy it. Loving hands have cared for it, and peace, love, and harmony are indwellers. Be ready for the change which ere long awaits you, from the earth- life to the heavenly state, just beyond the scenes of the present mode of existence. Your career is one of pleasure, happiness, and usefulness; your aim is to elevate your thoughts above the groveling things of earth. We come to you to instruct you in matters of importance, and to elevate your thoughts from earthly objects to those eternal and spiritual, lest you should fail to obtain a reward which awaits those who are faithful in well-doing. Be earnest in good works. We are always active and find much to engage our time. We do not measure here by minutes and hours, but are unceasingly employed in our Master's work. We are happiest when in His work in both worlds. We influence and impress the erring of earth. The power to do this is imparted by Him who rules the Universe, and whose influence is felt by all. We are employed by Him to minister to those who need our influence and watchful care ; hence we come to instruct through the avenues which lie open to us. There are many who are yet in the darkness in the spirit-world, who still live near the earth sphere, clinging to their old associations and to their wicked and perverse appe- tites, who need a superior and spiritual influence and we in part are employed in visiting them in their low and distressed condition trying to lift them from their wretched condition to joys above, unknown to them. We are thus employed in missions of kind entreaties to those who are not yet developed beyond their mortal cravings. Their thirstings for something noble, pure, and good have not been increased to that extent to create in their spirits a desire to leave their old haunts. Many a wicked man is urged by a wicked controlling spirit to per- petrate the most outrageous crime. He carries a devil within his own heart. The spiritual part of man's nature must pre- I6% 37o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. dominate in order to govern the material or wicked. He must control the sinful inclinations, for when you would do good, evil is often near. “Always do good and great will be your reward, for Him who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. “We see a great change in the future awaiting the world, and many vague ideas are swinging ready to fall from the slen- der thread by which they are supported. You will live to see them. God speed the happy time when spirituality shall reign Supreme over all the land and that the religion which you and many of your co-workers are trying to establish, shall sweep like a mighty wind, and the world emerge from the darkest shades which now envelope it. The gleams of light are bright- ening, and enlightening, and widening the farthermost ends of the planet. “I am your loving father in spirit-life, “I,EVIN WATSON.” * We remarked how much more satisfaction there was in this phase of spirit intercourse than in materialization. From Judge Hall, before starting on my long trip East dur- ing the summer of 1879 : “MR, WATSON ––We are here to bring you good tidings of a better world, and to prepare your mind for the preparation for the mission you are about to enter. There is a vast field open for usefulness, and you are well qualified to fill your place and gather in the sheaves which are now ready waiting for the gleaner. “We always feel delighted, Mr. Watson, to see you enter the lecture field, and if your physical strength would allow, we would try to influence you to enter more extensively upon the labors, but whilst you are yourself some degree of careful pres- ervation, we shall not insist. “There are many more like our noble Dr. Peebles, who can and do fill the most necessary places, and are wielding a good influence where they go. We are glad to see his light shining so brightly, and the stars will certainly deck his crown. I use this as a figure, for we do not wear crowns, that is a mistake : yet we use it as a mark of distinction of the faithful and true. The degree of happiness and of ecstatic joy is greater for that one than it could possibly be for one who spends his life in HOME CIRCLES. 3.71 sumptuous and riotous living, doing no one any good and detracting really from his own happiness. Your friends have influenced you in your consent because they think that much good will accrue from it. You shall see some things you never saw before, and you will enjoy it. Now go forth with your eyes open to the fountain from which springs all that is comforting and soul-purifying. We know it will only be a short time till your mission shall have been filled, and we want you to do all you can. You have our prayers and our assistance. “Your friend, H. G. HALL.” This was written after my return : “SAMUEL :—I have been aware of your desire for an oppor- tunity for me to write. I am on hand, as I am nearly at any time of this kind, and if I could but speak through the medium, how much I would say to you in regard to your trip and its result ; but I have nearly always found it an easy matter to express what I wished through the medium of pencil and paper. I have been with you much—have guided and directed, to the best of my judgment and ability to do so. I have many a time introduced to your extensive band of spirits some of the most able minds and fluent speakers. I would seek them in order to bring them to you, and they seeing at a glimpse how much they could assist you, took control and gave you ideas and clothed them in their own words, that they might sink deep into the most callous hearts, for I know that you addressed a diversity of minds and opinions from the most credulous to the opposite and to the most reasonable. The influence was as a magnet which was powerful and irresistible. The power of the sentiments you were influenced to utter, is felt even to this Inhoment. “You were also endowed with a physiological influence never having been yours before. All this was intended to effect good and command the esteem and confidence of all, and to this you owe much of your success. Another feature admired and conquered was your earnest Christian zeal which attended you in your walk, conversation, and addresses. This carries a vast amount of power with it, and gives expression and impres- sion above any one else who addressed those vast audiences. You were absorbed in all these things more than you were in ob- taining communications and receiving tests. You had no de- 372 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. sire, and certainly you have passed beyond the point of curiosity. I was with you on many occasions; several you were informed of, but some you know nothing of unless you were impressed. We can not always tell when our impressions are felt. In some instances we are entirely ignorant of them. “If you were traveling and lecturing constantly, I believe my work would be vastly changed to be with you most of the time. My mission would certainly be changed. I have had a happy time. . I have enjoyed the mirthful glee of the happy, sweet-toned Spiritualists. In their religion they could not be otherwise than extremely happy. They have the germs of true happiness in this earth-sphere and an assurance of happiness in the beyond. “I was not surprised at the solicitations you had to fill en- gagements, but that you can not do. You must not tax your strength too much. You need rest now. I do not want you to falter yet awhile, for there is much work for you to perform and good to be achieved. You have met some very fine mediums, and you might have-gotten remarkable tests if you had really desired them. Now, Samuel, we are all glad to meet you again at home where your heart is. I shall come as often as it is agreeable, and others will come at some future meeting. But this will suffice for to night. Yours affectionately, “MOLLIE.” “Here you are at home again, and we are yet with you to welcome you. Surely you are surrounded by angel care, who go and come with you. Now here with home loved ones again to talk with loved ones and to allow your thoughts to dwell upon heavenly things. You are shut in from the world, and God and holy loved ones are uppermost in your thoughts. This is a fountain of joy from which you can always be refreshed, and the spiritual part of your being be renewed. You, and not only you, but all need these seasons for a renewal of spiritual strength, and without it you wither and die a spiritual death. There should be more time given to meditation and prayer. It is necessary while buffeting with the toilsome world. You should often seek relief in prayer, which is the avenue through which to obtain spiritual food. We ask for what we need, and by making our requests known we derive knowledge, and hence we are prepared to teach better than earthly friends. We often extend, by the power of impression, the knowledge which is HoME CIRCLEs. 373 necessary according to our ideas to help you along. We occupy a stand-point which you do not now see, but by and by you can see as we see. You will be drawn to earth by the same kindred feeling we have. We can not supply you with all your curiosity would incline you to ask for. You are to come to us and see for yourself. We do not know what is withheld from you which would benefit you. Now comes one sweet and cheering thought, that each day brings you nearer your heavenly home, and we need not now say to you, ‘Be ready for the day when you shall cease to care for earthly things,’ and you can come where you will be happier than you even expect. Good-night. “MOLLIE.” “SAMUEL :—We are so glad to see you so tranquil and happy, and we could not, if we were asked, provide any more than you have already, to contribute to your happiness. We can see the condition of our loved ones, and if happy we participate with them; if not, we do all we can to make them so. We can not say we are rendered unhappy in this happy, beautiful home, in having been changed to a condition above the earthly feeling; but we can and do sympathize with those of our earth- friends who deserve it. “If an erring child continues in his wayward way, the spirit- mother never ceases to cling to him—to be about him—to im- press him—to check him in his career; but if she is happy in her new spirit-life, she is not rendered miserable, but it has the tendency to retard her progress in her present life and in her spiritual pursuits and employments. The situation of mortals has, to some extent, its influence in this respect. It keeps the spirit too closely allied with earth, and consequently it does not progress. . . “I am not one of which I speak. I have had every oppor- tunity, and therefore I have improved it in a very elevating and purifying manner. I seldom ever return to you only under the most pleasant and happifying circumstances, and it is best for me to do so. I enjoy it, and it does ne good. You are not aware, either, of the strength a spirit derives from human earthly mortals if their lives correspond with what they under- stand Jesus taught and exemplified. “Now comes to my mind, what would Jesus do if He were on earth P. He would have a field of boundless influences going about doing good. Sowing seed to spring forth and bear fruit. 374 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. He would teach you charity by His example and deeds—He would teach you humility, and what a change He would bring about in your proud city He would remind you many ways you were remiss in your duties. He would teach you patience. His example is better understood than practiced or imitated. “We would have you think of these things, for the practice of them will make you happier. We do not have any special call to earth now, but when you meet we feel that we can en- joy that. MOLLIE.” SPIRIT-HOMES. “Now I can tell you some things about our home and who are with me. “We are not together all the time, as some would imagine. This can be accounted for upon this score or for these reasons. Affinity, intellect, and spiritual development are three principal reasons for our separation. As you have often been told, this world is one of activity and progression, and as we enter into the spirit-life we are then transplanted to a soil or place where we have the best opportunities for improvement. Our minds are often strengthened from infirm old age to vigorous man and womanhood. As soon as the spirit enters its new ex- istence, if inclined to good deeds and desirous of wisdom, it seeks it and can find it; but if its preference is the opposite, it seeks and obtains it. The channel for good and for improvement is deep, and every one soon sees what position will be most suited or better adapted to their natures. Our children are, of course, differently disposed, and consequently have different positions. Some departed in early years before properly matured, others after some years of cultivation. Their minds were expanding and the buds were bursting to bloom in full beauty in the spirit-land. We constitute one family, but as different natures seek their own level, we are consequently not together. Now, I will here say—the little ones still clus- ter around the parent stem, but the matured ones are not with me only as we desire. I can not yet, nor do I think I shall ever be able to, give you a satisfactory explanation of the laws which govern us, still as they do to some extent while on the earth-plane. We can be together as we prefer, at intervals best suited to us. “Our homes are not as yours, nor do we desire it. They are not in appearance so earth-like, yet they are massive in quality— *º HoME CIRCLEs. 375 stone is the material. We have our bowers of beauty and re- freshing limped streams and fountains, which refresh the weary soul. Our flowers are not like the earth, but we have flowers if we desire them, and they are liable to contribute to our happiness. We are made happy by having what conduces to our tastes, inclination, and desires. Your aspirations are realized more fully over in the spirit-land, than they possibly could be on the earth. “We have no Sunday or Sabbath, for we need none. We observe no special time for the Sabbath, but always have work to do of a spiritual character. We only realize it through your organism. We have food, but not as you do. We im- bibe from you much of our vigor and strength. This we can not describe. There is manna of which you have heard is good for us, and we partake of that. There is nothing as you term marriages, but if one is taken from the party betrothed, the union is consummated just as far as their affinity affects it. If united in heart on the earth, your affections would be stronger and the same in our new existence. “June 18, 1880. MOLLIE.” “I am truly delighted to see you preparing a work, which, in my opinion, will be very popular. It is laden with good, and will live fresh in the hearts of the people long after you are lain in the grave. Your spirit will attend it and you will rejoice in its success. Your spirit-friends attend you all along the crooked path of life.” (When asked if he would meet us and listen to the reading the manuscript of the book and assist in making any correc- tions thought necessary, he responded thus): “I am willing to take my share of responsibility. Of course, I can speak for no one else. You can be assisted by others who are inclined to come, any way. I don't suppose there will be much correction, but if we obligate ourselves to do so we shall not disappoint you. Right here you will see the object in invoking the assistance of several others. I may not know all the controls. HENRY G. HALL.” CLOSING COMMUNICATION FROM OUR BAND. “We feel, our dear brother, that the task which has been before you and upon your mind, and not yours only, but ours, 376 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. is now about to be completed. You have had an influence about you and blessings upon you imparted to you by angelic ministry that was never before your privilege to enjoy. These hallowed and heavenly feelings will attend you still ; though a mission has been filled, a work accomplished, we still expect to attend you, and as your band, assist you when needed, in service of a spiritual nature especially. “We shall strengthen you ; though natural or physical ability may give way with declining years, we shall still help you and sustain you. A faithful servant shall be favored, and we intend that your days yet to come shall be blessed and freighted with many blessings. You shall be made to rejoice as the green bay-tree, which knoweth nothing but to be re- freshed and sanctified, and your remaining portion shall be sun- shine, having the reflection of the brightness of the Father, whose splendor outvies the sun. Your days shall be long upon the earth. The world needs you, and shall be blessed with your counsel and example. Now, why should we speak thus? It is because we are empowered to do so. Many are working in our Father's vineyard, and are as laborers blessed. “You are so conservative that your influence is extensive. It is thus designed that your influence may widen. We come from our lovely homes to instruct you and help you on in your enterprise. “We shall ever revere your name, Brother Watson, and hope you will be ever a good servant. “We leave for the present. . YoUR BAND.” “Well, Sammy, my son, I have not occupied the time allotted for the family in some time, and I come to-night. I am con- stantly about my Father's business, but this comes in my line. of duties or mission, for we are ministering angels sent to im- part instruction and lessons of usefulness to the loved and weary, care-worn ones of earth. Much of what is good may be attributed to the direction of spirits of those who would never influence you to commit a wrong deed, or utter a wrong word, or yield to a wrong impression ; though we can not prevent these things being done, yet we sometimes check them in the bud. I want you to always be very careful and do what will be productive of good. We can see and do know to what extent your sinful natures are prone to error, and hence we insist that you become more spiritually-minded, but the earth has HOME CIRCLES. 377 many allurements to decoy especially the young into paths of vice, but still we shall not become weary in our task. We are directed by Jesus to always act as by the directions of Him as our Leader, and will do what we can. The subject I hope to listen to in your discussion, is one from which you can draw very distinct and correct conclusions from the Bible, and this is one you must try to impart in a very plain and earnest man- ner. You may excite a great interest among the people by giving some plain, profound, and convincing reasons. Your friends will be better satisfied with your arguments than if they came through any other source. I want you to preach, not talk as many do. Now the time has come, for the interest which has become an excitement annong the thinking class, must be increased by those conclusions drawn from the Bible. You can do much good. You must prove your points all the way from the Bible. “Your father LEVIN WATSON.” “July 18, 1880. “BRO. WATson –I regret that the medium is not more composed, or that I could exert my influence over her suffi- ciently to write at length. I have many things to say when a favorable opportunity presents itself. You have enjoyed to-day all which could have been imparted to her and I don't know that much remains for me to say now. Your book, in which we have felt a responsible position, is now at the point which ter- minates any help we might give. Its completion leaves us but to engage in other things which is the intention to promote good and happiness to mankind. They need all the assistance we can render. Our minds are more expansive, and the powers of comprehension increased and strengthened by use. We are not idle. Contact with the earthly makes us more intent in the effort to help all to invigorate and bring about a more fruit- ful heritage, yielding an abundance. We are often summoned to earth, where we accomplish much good. Our mission does not terminate in our separation from the body. The temple is rebuilt and in better working order. The developments justify us in speaking and thinking thus. The world is opened wide for our embrace and vast improvement. We have caught glimpses beaming from hearts which reverberate and which act in concert with another when the affinity does not have a re- pelling effect. Trials and perplexities lessened, separations 378 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. made less sensitive—loving hearts made to feel yet nearer— death less horrible—the grave no terrors—the spirit-world a future happy home. Infidelity left without support. Material- ism made to blush, and its believers made to know, without a doubt, that there is a happy beyond where life does not cease, and to the Christian a tranquil, patient resignation. All this we feel is worth striving for. C. B. PARSONs.” I have been reading the New Testament carefully, with special reference to the true teachings of Jesus, in regard to the fundamental principles of the religion He came to es- tablish. To do this properly, one must divest himself of his religious prejudices, which is a very difficult thing to do. Our early impressions are the most difficult to eradicate. It requires strong moral nerve to look at these questions from an independent stand-point. This I have endeavored to do, and with what success the reader who has followed us can best de- termine. I am not an iconoclast; I would not tear down, but build up on a sure foundation, the corner-stone of which is the principles taught by the gentle Nazarene. These, I think, have been misunderstood by the creeds of dogmatic theology, as we have endeavored to show. These, while professing to derive their authority from the same source, differ on some points which may be regarded as fundamental. I find that both the Old and New Testaments abound with spirit man- ifestations. The latter begins and ends with the most im- portant communications that can be found in the pages of history. The Christian system recognized by the numerous sects, claiming to derive all their authority from these books, was dependent on spirit intercourse for its vitality and success in the days of its purity, as its history shows. It is a question of vast importance, Are spirit manifestations real, or are they imaginary P. If the latter, then the basis upon which the superstructure of Christianity is built, is a sandy foundation. If the millions of living witnesses to the truth of Spiritualism all around the globe are deceived, then the patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, were likewise deceived, and we are out at sea without chart or compass, tossed by the waves of materialistic infidelity, without any knowledge of any other world or mode of existence beyond the present. Whatever psychological law that will explain the modern phenomena, will HOME CIRCLES. 379 also sweep the ancient into oblivion. Hence there is more at stake than is generally supposed; they stand or fall together. The popular way of disposing of this matter is the assertion that these manifestations were given for the establishment of Christianity, and that the day of miracles has passed away. There is no warrant to be found anywhere in the Bible for such an opinion, and if the maintenance of this religion ever required their intervention, there never has been a time in the world's history when it was more needed than in this age of scientific reasoning and scoffing infidelity, which have taken possession of the minds of many of the leading philosophers and scientific guides of Europe and America. There never has been an age in which these things have not been manifested, but skeptics called them tricks and delusions. The fact that the spirits of the departed have returned and communicated with living persons, is so thoroughly established by a host of witnesses in all ages and countries, wherever books have been written or records kept, that it would be a work of su- . pererogation to adduce further proof than history furnishes. They demonstrate the individual immortality of the soul, the certainty of a future state corresponding with our deserts and conduct in this life. JESSIE B. FERGUSON. “Good-evening, Mr. Chairman. I am here, and ready to answer any questions. How are you doing, Bro. Watson P” Dr. Watson—“We are glad to meet you. I am doing as well as could be expected, though suffering some.” Mr. F.—“I come, hoping to gather from the stream of time ‘pebbles’ which I know you will find use for. Some of them are rough. Patience, with earnest working, will polish them, and then the world will understand and realize their worth. I am ready.” Dr. W.-“I would propose that you give us your views as to how we should live here, to better attain the perfect plains of happiness hereafter.” Mr. F.—“You wish to learn that life here that is to give you knowledge, that your works may be known hereafter. Live to love thy neighbor as thyself, and keep thyself unspotted before the world—BEFORE THE world; do you understand? Let your lives be so pure that the world may know that there is no 38o THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. evil in you; abiding by those laws that promote perfect health; the purity of your spirit perfecting your body. Ilet your light shine, that all seeing it may be guided by its rays; conquer self; extend charity toward all of earth; live in perfect har- mony with the teachings of nature ; lay aside all forms. Re- member, it is the acts of your lives that are recorded in the great book of records. The Great Being hears not the words that come through studied forms; it is the action of the heart that is most regarded by Him. He that has, let him give to those who have not. If you have not of worldly goods to be- stow, you have, perhaps, in your heart a ray of sunlight that, through smiles and kind words, may find its way into the soul of your less fortunate brother, and lift a portion of the load of care that the world's adversity has placed there. Christ gave you an example of true charity. Amid His own trials and persecutions, when alone and footsore He wandered in strange lands, with nowhere to lay His head—His sympathy awakened at all times, by kind words and gentle acts, He bestowed com- fort to the lowest of God's creatures. His own sorrows were never so great as to hide from Him the trials of others. He set the example of charity by living a life of unselfishness. Iive in accordance with the perfect laws of God in nature, looking upon all of earth as thy kindred, extending love to the entire universe, and keeping yourself in harmony with the perfect laws of truth. When you have conquered all false ideas, and exalted your spirit that your eyes may see the divine principle of God in all life, then you have established the golden link that, riveted to the great chain of the universe, leads you to the perfect paths of peace in the paradise of God. As kings you stand, crowned with wisdom ; lifted from sin through the power gained over self, and the beautiful spirit of charity that,’ through pure souls, you bid abide with you.” “Mr. Chairman, you will see that we have changed the order of the evening. The spirits who are to communicate to you to-night are directed by the wants of the souls here present. The spirit who comes desires to introduce himself. He will be with you in a few moments. “Good-evening, Mr. Chairman. Good-evening, friends. I can not say whether I am a welcome guest or not. I come for the interest of humanity, in which I am greatly concerned. * HoME CIRCLEs. 381 I was interested in humanity when upon earth, but that interest was prompted by selfishness. Nature endowed me with a gifted mind. All perfect were the golden clippings that fell from her regal mantle; by my own acts I dimmed the lustre of the beautiful gems she gave me. The desires of fleshly appetite marred the high spiritual element that floated over me. I am the spirit of George D. Prentice, the poet-editor, of Louisville, Ky. The beautiful precepts of love that my mother gave me, ever lived in ‘memory’s urn,' and when my soul would soar upon its wings of fancy, I drank the incense from its reeking cup. From the rosy clouds I gathered flowers to weave into rhymes of life stories, and baptized them with dew as it nestled in the evening flowers ‘like souls at rest.’ The spiritual of my nature ever sought to gather from the beautiful of earth. ‘The violet, with the blossoms blue and wild,’ ‘the evening spreading her robes of light,’ all gave to me thoughts of the beautiful—thoughts that, framed in words, live in the hearts of my countrymen, while / scarce seem to be, only as a broken reed—‘a lonely branch upon a withered tree, whose last frail leaf untimely sere went down.” I, the broken-spirited, bowed old man, gave up my outer form, went to sleep when the ashes of my hearth-stone were cold—when one by one the circle of my home had crept away—one son left with his child. That son is with the spirits now—all have passed from their earthly home. I passed from the earth-life as I had lived for years, a lonely, broken-spirited old man, with the inner temple injured from the rottenness of the outer; and I am here to-night to plead with you, my friends—plead that as reformers you will stretch out your hands in the true path of reformation. While you condemn and censure the man who imbibes freely of spirituous liquors, you do not seek to destroy the cause of the appetite. To destroy alcoholic drink is merely impossible. It has its use, and for that must be sustained—let the distillers and salesmen of it alone. Go to work and reform your society by giving more freedom to your young men. The lust for stimulating spirits is confined almost entirely to the male sex, and if you will notice, the appetite does not come until the period of ripening age. It is when other forms of abuse begin to draw on the vital system, when the labors of civilized life Come, or are allotted to the male sex—the mental toil, that which overworks and exhausts the brain and debilitates the body— that body seeks stimulants. The devotion to toil exempts the 382 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. worker from social intercourse. Six long days of confinement, no change, ever the same ; the night finds the toiler weary and anxious to rest, and to those who use brain as well as hand, there are but few moments for rest. The pen must move when the thoughts are ripe. The lone taper tells of the nightly labor of the head and hand. There is no relief, no stimulant, to awaken a flow of genial spirits within his being ; his body is weakened by the great strain upon the mental, which has tightened every nerve until the trembling hand tells the story of an overworked life. In a world where man con- demns social pleasures upon the Sabbath, when and where can the worker find release or change from the tiring strain upon the brain P “There are less deaths from intemperance in Germany and France than in any other country. When the week of labor is over, society does not force them to closely confine themselves to their home circles, or to the close walls of the church. She sends them abroad in the woods, where in Nature's grand halls they can worship God, and listen to His words in the voice o the winds, while the murmuring brooks and sweet-singing birds hymn the doxology. Dusty law books are forgotten, the counting-room does not revisit their eyes by continual visions of brick and mortar; but glad fields and green hills give the spirit the renewed vigor of boyhood. Let reading-rooms be established and opened upon the Sabbath day, where your young men can spend the hours of the Sunday afternoon, gaining knowledge for future use. To those who have been bent down with the jack-plane or wielding the hanmer over the anvil, this is a stimulant that lifts the spirits for the long week to come, and brings his mental to lift his physical. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, by perfecting the laws of life. w “If in the morning of your life you are full of hope, and the future shows its rosy lining, let it ever remain so by working for that which shall harmonize with your nature, taking recre- ation whenever and wherever opportunity will present itself. Let your young men do this, and there will be less appetite for artificial stimulants. I do not speak against churches nor their teachers; but I do speak against society, that condemns the man who sees fit to seek the hillside, or sea-shore, upon the Sabbath day, and that society must be regulated by the churches, all know. Open your reading-rooms upon the Sabbath day, and there will be less sin in your cities; less stealing in at HOME CIRCLES. 383 private back entrances to living hells, where the appetites are fed that increase until the man becomes a broken and bruised reed, to pass away, and be condemned by the very society that forced him into sin.” “I fear I weary you. With your permission I will come again. Good-night.” (Séance conducted by Henry Bacon). “COME AND LET US REASON TOGETHER.” The time has come in the history of the world and the Church when this God-given faculty of the human intellect must have its influence upon those who are capable of appreciating its importance. Behold, now is the accepted time for those to whom the world looks for instruction in regard to man's duty and destiny, to be able to give a reason for that which they require at his hands. The age of blind faith in antiquity is rapidly passing away. The time has come when those who teach the Christian religion must show that it is a grand system of philosophy, worthy of its author, and that it challenges the mind of this reasoning age. Materialistic rationalism has been at work among the intelligent nations of Europe until it has swept away almost every vestige of vital Christianity among the intellectual classes. It is at work in our midst, rallying a host of scoffing infidels and attracting large numbers of partial skeptics to its ranks from among those who have reacted from a religion of unreasoning faith in arthority, and wish to take a definite position somewhere oil a rational platform. These are loth to leave the faith of their youth, and call im- patiently to the Church for help. They implore her, in ac- Cordance with the earnest exhortations of St. Paul, to render a reason for the faith that is in her, with which they may be able to satisfy the demands of their own natures, and answer the arguments of the opposers of Christianity. Year after year they are disappointed, until they become disheartened and dis- gusted, and at length fall into the increasing ranks of material- istic rationalism ; for they receive no light from the old-time responses, “Great is the mystery of godliness; ” “Human reason is not to be exercised on the profound subject of Christian faith.” The fact is, we are living in the transitory period of the rea- Soning age of the world. Reason, the great questioner, is every- 384 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. where waking from the slumber of the physical ages of igno- rance, and propounding vital questions to the reverend doctors of the law. Intelligent men and women can no longer rely implicitly on the authority of the past or present, or accept as the ultimatum of truth a religion of unquestioning faith, handed down from the undeveloped childhood and youth of the world, notwithstanding the Church has stamped the seal of revelation upon the mere interpretation of the sacred text by her chosen teachers. The divinity within us impels the reasoning mind to seek “to know of the doctrine’’ that it is called upon to believe. It therefore becomes the duty and privilege of the Church to present the Christian religion to the world as a compre- hensive system of divine philosophy, as well as principles and precepts in harmony with universal law, obedience to which will bring happiness to those who implicitly obey its mandates. It seems to us, when we look abroad and see the swelling tide of rational materialism, as it has spread its baneful influence over Europe and America, demanding something more tangi- ble than the teachings of the past ages, that the spiritual de- velopment should be hailed as “a godsend” to stay this tide of infidelity which threatens to engulf our country in skepti- cism. It courts investigation—demands to have its claims pass the most rigid scrutiny. It professes to give “proof palpable of immortality,” and yet, strange, passing strange, those whose business it is to teach mankind will pour forth de- nunciations upon those who will not, or can not, believe things which occurred thousands of years since, and which have come down to us through human testimony. They will not investi- gate that which would “increase their faith,” and affords to millions the only evidence they have received of a future mode. of existence, and which gives them the knowledge that their friends live, appear to, and converse freely with them, as the Scriptures teach us was done under every dispensation, and which Jesus taught would be realized to a greater extent than in His day. Spiritualism has been in existence in all ages, and in all nations, according to history. The believers in Spiritualism are largely in the majority of the inhabitants of the world. All antiquity, with some few exceptions, were Spiritualists, accord- ing to the best historical authorities—Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Pliny, Cicero, Seneca, Tacitus, bearing testimony to the fact. HOME CIRCLEs. 385 At the present day the millions of population in the East are Spiritualists. All Catholicism is spiritual, and must be, or abandon all its saints and miracles. Protestantism alone has apostatized from the faith and experience of the universal world ; and even now through Protestantism, invincible, mul- titudinous, and daily springing facts, are restoring the empire of Spiritualism to its natural throne in the heart and intellect of man. In England and America there are thousands of families, in- cluding many of the very highest rank in intellect and in learn- ing, in which the varied phenomena of Spiritualism are as familiar as the daily newspaper. In some of the families of Scotland, of the highest nobility, it is notorious that some of the post extraordinary mediums exist. In France the same thing exists; hundreds of thousands of Spiritualists, from the most highly cultivated to the peasant, are to be found. In Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and Russia, there are thou- sands of Spiritualists. The question has long been sifted by the keenest intellects. In the latter country one of the most intellectual men, and one of the most distinguished authors, has recently acknowledged his conversion to Spiritualism. In nearly all of these countries works of a learned and profound character have been written on the subject. William Howitt says: “On my shelves, besides English and American, I have above fifty volumes of French and German writings on the subject, prepared after years of inquiry and of travel, in search of actual phenomena, by men of great learn- ing and fame. My conviction then is this : For the last two centuries there has been a tendency, and for the last century a most determined tendency, to ignore reason away, and trample down the best half of the universe—the universe of Spirit. No doubt these gentlemen had their reasons for their conduct. It was much more agreeable to have no apparition of a spirit throne and future judgment haunting them. The Hobbeses, Tyndals, Humes, Voltaires, and Volneys succeeded to a mar- vel. They have not only destroyed faith in spirit and spirit action, as in the monsters of the French revolution, but in the churches. They have not only, by the aid of Kants, Hegels, Paulesses, and Strausses, materialized nearly all of Germany, France, and Spain, but they have gradually infected, by the creeping virus, the universities and churches of Great Britain.” I 7 386 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. ^ Mr. Wesley says: “A spirit can travel thousands of miles in a moment.” He says further, that “one well-established fact of the return of a spirit will forever destroy materialism.” Yet some of his professed followers say we are beside ourselves for entertaining the same opinions. He would not be considered Orthodox by some who bear his name because of his views of the intermediate state and spirit communion, which are identi- cal with the teachings we have upon this subject from our spirit friends. What is the present moral status of Europe P You find no Sabbath recognized after you cross the British Channel, except as a holiday, in which stores, shops, etc., may be kept open, or secular business may be engaged in. Try the professed Chris- tianity of to-day by the recognized principles of the Gospel. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Look now through Europe for this proof of Christianity of the nearly nineteen cent- uries of possession, and see it from one end to the other armed to the teeth—“every man against his neighbor.” “Thou shalt not kill ; ” yet the most prominent feature of the age is the enthusiasm of its mechanic genius at work to invent new machines for man's destruction. In passing through Europe, we were struck with the fact that a large portion of the men were in uniform, while the women were doing the work in the fields and the drudgery of the cities. Religion is a formal ceremony soon disposed of on a Sabbath morning. The man of the Vatican wields more power than any crowned head in Europe. Under this assumption, the name without the substance of Christianity, lies practical athe- ism and materialism. It must be a very mortifying thing to the learned and philo- sophical of the age, that when they thought they had com: pletely put down spiritual faith, and branded it with the bug- bear name of superstition, it should start up again and spread over the land, giving the most tangible proofs of immortality that can be demanded. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Let all look at it. The good did come out of the Nazareth of Spiritualism. Men now learn by direct revelation that the souls of the so-called dead are around them, and they feel their own immortality and responsibility. The life of the inner world is thus brought home out of the vagueness of modern theology into a real, stern, Home: CIRCLEs. 387 ever-present fact; awful to the wicked, but cheering and in- spiriting to those who are pure in heart and life. This is Spirit- ualism, which begins just at the point to which materialism has led the intellectual portion of Europe and America, whose pur- suits have been of a scientific character, but will end, if follow- ed faithfully, in that vital Christianity which recognizes the teachings of the Nazarene as its creed, and the common brotherhood of man in the practical duties of life. A PPE N D IX. HAVING been requested by Rev. C. B. Parsons at our “home circle,” just before leaving home, to ask John Wesley, Bishop Otey, R. D. Owen, and others to write through Dr. J. V. Mansfield, I sent him a sealed letter to Saratoga and received the following reply : “DEARLY BELOVED BROTHER:—Yours of the 2d is before me and others of the band, who are with you from time to time. You say you desire the “Band or some of your spirit friends to contribute matter that you may publish in your forthcom- ing book, that may not only interest, but instruct the readers of said book.’ “Brother, we have said in previous communications all that we could in a general way. We have spoken of our man- ner of living—of our beautiful home and surroundings, if but imperfectly, and were we to do so again it would be but a repetition of that already communicated. Had you but pro- pounded questions of a specific nature, we might have re- sponded more satisfactorily. Had you but visited the medium in person, and then asked your questions as they would most naturally suggest themselves to your mind, we might have fur- nished you with matter more appropriate to the object you seek. “Having talked the matter over with your old combating friend, Dr. Bond, and Mr. Owen, John Worth Edmonds, Otey and Fisk, Parsons and Sehon, Jessie B. Ferguson, and Fletcher, we have come to the conclusion your presence is necessary in order to get what you so much desire. “I subscribe myself, “JoHN WESLEy, “August 7, 1880. for the above-named Band. “How little do mortals know concerning the laws of the invisible world. J. W.” (389) 39 P THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. After we received the foregoing, we decided by our impres- sions to go to Saratoga and see what our friends had to say through Dr. Mansfield. We had two extended sittings with him, and give the result in what follows. We onlit what we wrote, and sealed with mucil- age and several folds of paper over the writing. Mixing them together, we could not tell one from another. Some will smile at our credulity, but it is a consolation to know that the future will demonstrate the truth or falsehood of these communications, and of the subject matter of the book in which we claim to have been simply the instrument through which the invisibles have spoken-to the Church and the world. Having done what we believed to be our duty, we bid an affectionate adieu, praying the blessings of our Heavenly Father upon those who have followed us through the work committed to our hands: “My DEAR BROTHER WATSON :—Excuse me for this intru- sion, but as our God-gifted Brother John Wesley is not at this moment present, I come to advise you of the same. You are doing your work well, so fear not, your reward awaits you. Poston and Bond and Scruggs are present. “SAMUEL GILBERT.” “Thanks thanks my dear friend and Brother Watson for such friendly notice. My mind reverts to days past when I took issue with you on matters of evidence we had of immor- tality, and particularly that claimed by you and Spiritualists generally. But I must confess, and it is so delightful for me to do so, since I have been convinced I was in the wrong, and you in the right. I was honest in my convictions and in my teachings, and never for a moment doubted your sincerity or honesty in the departure you took from the M. E. Church, but I did think you insane on that point, and for that I labored to reclaim one of the brightest minds connected with the M. E. Church. But when I reached the spirit-land I at once saw that the mote had been in my own eye, that you was right and Bond was wrong. It was the happiest day or moment of my exist- ence. Watson, thank God your eyes behold so great a salvation. Spiritualism is the only ism that proves innmortality. “T. E. BOND.” “How blessed it is to meet thus, dear Brother Watson. For a long time I have been anxious to speak with you and yours, who I know so well. APPENDIX. 391 “I have followed you thither, and up and down the world, and listened to your conversation, public and private, and truly it has given me great pleasure to know that you have been so generally received wherever you have traveled, by not only the friends of progress, but by the churches generally, since you took your leave of the Church ; rather the Church from you; for while your ideas become liberalized or strengthened by your faith in God, as the evidence you received through your in- vestigations, the Church became skeptical and lost sight of the teachings of the blessed Jesus and His life, which was given for our pattern, and I was almost about to say saints, the Wes- leys. But, Brother Watson, you have lived to see the Church made more liberal than at the time when you and I, Gilbert and Scruggs were in class together. Keep your eye on that light within you ; you have nothing to lose, but much to gain. “W. K. Poston.” “Thanks be to God, who has given me victory over the grave. I live, Brother Watson, and because I do you will. I was with you the other day at Camp-meeting, and so was Brother Gilbert. It reminded us somewhat of our meetings at Methodist camp-meetings hore than a score of years since. Brother Sehon remarked well, there is no particular difference in those meetings from those which were once practiced by the Methodist Church, not quite as much shouting, but more en- joyable, for while these meetings were usually conducted or controlled by a few leading brethren and preachers, they seem to all join in preaching and teaching. Well, Brother Samuel, you are on the right track. You can and do read your title clear from day to day, and therefore have nothing to fear. Be guided by that mentor within you and you will never fail of do- ing your dut”. Your brother, “PHINEAS T. SCRUGGS.” “‘Glory to God in the highest l’ My dear, good Brother Watson, could you have known how much myself and our good Brother Frazer have followed you about since we left the bodily elements of that selfish world, you would not have thought us So far from you. “Oh, Brother Watson, do you recollect our first talk on the subject of spirit communion, and my soliciting you to in- vestigate the subject as worthy of your attention, and you ad 392 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. monishing me to be careful and not leave the old ship which had carried you and I over so many a rock-bound shore ? “And then again of my inviting you to my house to see my friend, a medium, and you admitted then and there to me and Nancy that you could believe there was evidence of spirit com- IT) UIIllOIR. “Oh, Brother Watson, I only regret that I could not have lived to have fought the battles of truth with you. But you have not been wanting for aid or instruction from the spirit- world. You have, through the assistance of your angel and unseen friends, been able to so let your light shine that thou- sands date their only evidence of immortality through instruc- tions you have given them in your writings and speaking. As Brother Scruggs says, you are doing your work well. I would say more, but others want the time. Again I say, ‘Glory to God in the highest l' SAMUEL GILBERT.” “To say I thank you, Brother Watson, for having made respectful and loving notice, but faintly describes my feelings on this occasion. When I look back in the past of our early lives, and for a moment consider how we toiled for the good of souls, and that, too, sincerely, devoutly, and honestly, I have often wondered why it was that the light of Spiritualism had not then dawned upon our hearts. But Brother, He who knows all things, and who holds all things, animate or inani- mate, in His grasp, knows just the time whereat mind would be ready to receive such tidings, as it has been your privilege to learn and disseminate. Therefore all things are ordered and governed by the good Father, and that, too, in the proper time and season. Do not then for a moment falter at the great work : committed to your care and keeping, but know you that He whom you serve and adore will defend you at all times and lead you day by day into green pastures. Think for yourself, act for yourself, as you must die and give an account for your doings. Your brother, “C. B. PARSONS.” “VERY DEAR BROTHER WATSON :—I was informed by my friends, S. S. Jones and Eben V. Wilson, that you were talking with your Southern friends, but had no idea that you would think of me. º “But, Brother Watson, your call is very acceptable. I know APPENDIX. 393 of no one whom it could give me more pleasure to take by the hand than yourself, for you, like me, enlisted in the great cause of truth at a time it tried men's souls to defend it. You, like myself, have some scars from the javelins thrown at us, but our wounds were but skin deep. “I finished my work, and then went to my home in the land of souls. You are yet at your post, and, to all appearance, may maintain it a score of years yet, but be it as it may, you have proved the way acceptably thus far, and grace and strength will be given you to finish the track to its distant point. “Go on, Brother Watson, and know that those who are with you, seen and unseen, are millions to one who may oppose you. Your friend and brother, “Aug. 19, 1880. ROBERT DALE Owen.” “We meet again, and for which my soul is made happy. I always enjoyed your company, and although it was not as fre- quent as I would have had it, yet I felt I was made happier and wiser for our exchange of thought. “Before you sailed for Europe I very well remember that call, and was so pleased to be able to place you in such re- lations with those of my friends by letter. Well, brother, the great and good cause of spirit communion has finally achieved a victory over all other isms. It would have nearly spread over the world had those who know its truth been faithful to its teaching. Nature never errs. God is found in and governed by no other than immutable law, and by it the God of nature acts. I have been with you often during your hours of medita- tion, and not less so in your hours and seasons of teaching to the multitudes, and have at times found you even cognizant of the fact. Will you go to my summer resort, that was Lake George P If so, I will try and impress you of my presence, etc.; if you speak at the meeting I will be with you, and put words into your mouth. “Say to friend Ferguson, if you meet him, I am with him from time to time; have had a long talk with his brother and son since my arrival here. Your friend and brother, ‘August 19, 1880. John. W. EDMUNDs.” “MY DEAR WATson.—However unexpected this notice, you have my soul's thanks. I have noticed you sitting with the group I so often see about you, but had not the remotest idea I should be called to be one of the party. Now, as you 1.7% 394 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. have noticed me, I will say a word by way of endorsing your idea of reform generally. What has more than all things else pleased me and my friends on this side, is the course you have taken to preserve harmony and peace among the Spirit- ualists. I need not say how much my soul has been pained to see the bickerings, seeming contentions existing between the more prominent ones, professing to be spiritual. I am pleased to know they see the ill effects of such scolding each other, and now seem to get sight of that which has caused so much trouble. I hope harmony and peace will be restored. “S. S. Jones.” “As our good brother Otey is not this moment present, but away with Bros. Wilber Fisk and Olin, I venture to say a few words of my approval of your life's doings, and par- ticularly since the light of spirit communion has dawned upon your mind. I really ought not to attempt to say anything by way addition to the much that has been already given you this morning by the other members of the Band, who are with you day and night. They have already told that your work or labor is in the right direction, and will be, so long as you keep your eye on the mark which is before you night and day. You don't work by faith alone. Once you did, but lately you have worked by sight as well. * “I have met your dear Mollie, and not long since I met your son and daughter. They are in happy spheres, and so rejoiced to know you are permitted to talk with them from time to time in your own family circle. The cause of spirit communion will very soon displace all the other isms, or so much so that it will be the leading ism of the world. Brother Charles and I were talking this matter over with others not long since, and we were the confident conclusion of the circle, one of which was my friend, Swedenborg. I must again beg pardon for taking time you intended others should have occupied by signing. JoHN WESLEy.” “This is very kind of you, my dear Brother Watson. I am not able to say much, as my condition physically, before coming over, was so distressing that I feel that the Spirit synī- pathizes to a great extent. But I will say that I passed over the river which separates that life and this as peacefully as one could if he were going to sleep and awaking. Not a APPENDIx. 395 ripple on the beautiful water; but all was stinshine there rather than darkness, as has been so generally taught and believed. “I will tell you much or more of my home after I have more fully recruited. “Tell Brother Beals that although I was unable to back my courage or rear my tent at Lake Pleasant this season, I have a spirit bower here by far more extensive than I could have had had I but executed my design. “All that I ever preached of spirit-life I find in substance true, but the half had not been shown me then. “I thank the dear brothers and sisters for the respect they honor me with in their doings at Lake Pleasant. May God bless them as I do. Your friend and brother, “ E. V. WILSON.” “VERY DEAR BROTHER WATSON :—I have to some degree anticipated this call, having been notified you would call for me by our mutual friend Wilber Fisk. “J. D. Andrews, Stephen Olin, Joshua Soul, John A. Wat- son, Chas. B. Parsons, W. T. Anderson, Wm. McMahon, Daniel Jones, T. E. Bond, and others who are now con- gregated to talk with you should time permit. Brother, you ought to thank God and the angels from the depths of your heart more than you do, if such could be possible, for . what you now possess, and which the majority of mortals are as yet ignorant of, you can truly say, that as you were once blind to this great light of spirit communion, your eyes are open to its great and growing truths. Be not in the least dis- turbed by the pharisaical cant or moral cowardice you listened to last evening, but let it rather strengthen you in your faith of spirit-life and spirit-communion. The would-be wise opposers of the only evidences of immortality, see too plainly that their position is in danger of being displaced by a mighty truth which now shakes the foundations of all creeds from center to circumference. They die hard, but die they will. Spirit communion now has a hold on the thinking era ; even the most scientific minds of the age. And such is the progress now being made that all others, now antagonistic, must surely succumb, then all will see, as from man to man, alike. Again I say, brother, be firm and active in dispensing this truth of all truths important, wherever you may be. • “Yours with loving respect, OTEY.” § 396 THE RELIGION of SPIRITUALISM. “Thanks, my dear Brother Watson, for such kind remem. brance, and the honor you confer on me by asking my opinion of your forthcoming book. I was with you and your friend, Crowell, when you were discussing that matter, and so were others of the band whom are mentioned in Bishop Otey's com- munication. We think it is just the book for the times, and one that will find ready sale. Q. C. Atkinson and Ignatius Spaulding, and Bishop Soul, and your old friend Thos. E. Bond, say it is by far the most readable book you have pub- lished regarding Spiritualism. For my part, I can but endorse the conviction of so many whose judgment on such matters is so superior to mine. “There comes your friend Wm. K. Poston, who says, “Tell Brother Watson he fully endorses the conjoint conclusion of those men above mentioned.' Again, I thank you for this Call. C. W. FLETCHER.” “DEAR WATSON:—As my views have been expressed gener- ally in Brother Fletcher's remarks, I will say nothing about the book, which will so soon be before the public, further than what Brother Fletcher has said, I fully endorse. “We were in mass assembled last evening to hear the talk by that moral coward,” who, after continuously speaking of Spir- itualism, and finding it did not meet with general favor from those of his associates—allowed himself to retreat and feel sorry for what he had proclaimed after an investigation, which he would not gainsay at the time of the investigation. This man has disgraced himself in the eyes of all thinking people; in other words, the man—rather this coward—is dead, dead to the world at large ; mind what I tell you. * “Brother, go forward on your mission to the people and teach harmony, for if there is one failing the Spiritualists have more than another, it is inharmony. They should consent to agree on general principles, if not in the minutiae. Your course is the proper one ; so it appears to me. “Yours sincerely, WILBER FISK.” “A moment since our mutual friend and co-laborer, Chas. B. Parsons, came to me and said, ‘Sehon, come, come and talk with Bro. Samuel.’ At such a summons my soul shouted aloud for Joy. * Rey. Joseph Cook. APPENDIX. 397 “Well, Brother, here I am, and so pleased to-meet you calling for me, and not less so to know you are yet found alive to the great work which you have been so signally called to perform. It was but a short time since I was talking with my good friend, Bro. Chas. C. Bluning, about the course you have pursued since you took your new departure from the Church, and how signally your labors had been blessed. Bro. Pluning said your book, “Clock Struck One, gave him so much comfort before he took his departure from the body Thousands, no doubt, could say the same. Your present or forthcoming book is the book of all others, so far as ever hav- ing been published by you. Its object is to harmonize the same with Christianity, or Christianity with Spiritualism. It is just the book for the times. I am yours truly, “Aug. 20, 188o. E. W. SEHON.” “This is more than I had anticipated, but not more than I hoped for. I have been anxious to take you by the hand for a long time. My mind reverts to my early lectures at dear old Memphis, when you and Bro. Gilbert, Dr. Rose, Eleanora L. Winchester, and a few others, were all that dared to speak of Spiritualism. From these few the seed of truth was sown, and, the seed taking root, hundreds, if not thousands have sprung into existence, and dare to say they can not only believe that spirits not only exist, but do, of a reality, communi- cate with earth friends. “Bro. Watson, when you and I started out from the Church, and dared to proclaim the truth of Spiritualism or spirit com- munion, it was about as much as we could do to live among mortals. But knowing whereon we stood, and who were not only our friends, but guides, we dared to face the opposition which we had, and to-day we can see the result of our faith- fulness. Go on, and victory is ours. “Your Bro., JESSE B. FERGUSON.” “Thanks to God, who giveth us the victory over death and the grave. We live and love ; and under favorable conditions know each other, and communicate as really as we did when with them in the body. “Bishop Andrews said to me but a short time since, ‘Oh, how changed are things of a spiritual nature—nature of the after-life. Since I was wont to travel about Dover, Dardanelle, 398 THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM. Clarksville, Augusta, and Richmond, then the people walked by faith and trust in the promises contained in the Bible. To- day they walk by the light of knowledge, or, in other words, they talk with their dear departed as really as they ever did while in the body.' Yes, Bro. Watson, you live in an age when you can say truly, without a shadow of a doubt, you know that your dead ones live beyond the mortal body, and because they live you will also. Be, then, of good heart. Keep your eye steadily; allow not your nerves to be prostrated at the last struggle of those who oppose the only evidence of immor- tality ever given to mortals. So pursue your even tenor of way, and know you are the watch care of a host who will sup- port you. Your forthcoming book will be a success, because .it is just what the people want. “Your Friend and Bro. WM. T. ANDERSON.” “I thank you, dear Bro. Watson, for assuring me I yet have a choice place in your loving memory. And, while I do re- joice at this opportunity of taking you by the hand again, I really do not see what I could say in addition, or at least, by way of improvement on what has already been given you by the ever watchful band, who have already communicated. I can, then, only add, I endorse all that has been offered in favor of the forthcoming book, and our general approval comes day by day. Your Bro., “Aug. 20, 188o. DANIEL Jones.” “This is kind and brotherly of you, my dear Bro. and once co-laborer in the cause of our blessed Redeemer. Bro. Watson, I recollect you, and our associates, well, and since my coming to the world of spirit I have made it in my way to be much about you. I am one of those who ever delighteth to hover over you, and impress you of what we deem safe for to follow. We have it, to say you never flinched in the slight- est degree from following your impressions, which have been forced upon you from the time you promised yourself to your God, and He only; that you would follow the dictates of your reason and what you deemed to be impressions of your angel guides. Your forthcoming book was dictated by your angel friends, and they opine a great sale of the book. “Aug. 20, 188o. Your Bro., WM. McMAHON.” APPENDIX. 399 “DEAR BRO. WArson:—While I thank you for such respectful notice, I find myself in the same pew with that of one brother who said he found it impossible to say anything by way of im- provement upon that already communicated. I will simply say your course of action is, in my mind, the true course, and one that will lead our church organization into greater light and liberty. What we have been already able to accomplish through you, as medium, has so changed the ideas of our people, as a sect, that we hardly find a trace of those teachings which were so generally accepted at my time of life. Your forthcoming book is one at the right time, and will produce not only happy results, but will oblige the world to acknowledge you a benefactor. Brother, we are with you. “Aug. 20, 188o. Joshua SOUL.” At Lake Pleasant camp-meeting Mr. E. V. Wilson was seen and recognized by a considerable number of persons at the Eddy seances. I attended one of them. He was the first one to come out. He looked about as natural as he did when I saw him there last year. He spoke distinctly, as in earth-life. Said he was permitted to come out first to open the circle. He said: “I see by that lady”—pointing to one on the front seat, near me—“a boy, her son, who has his nose broken.” The lady said it was a good test to her. - He came out afterward, and conversed freely with us. I told him I was going to publish his communication he gave me through Dr. Mansfield. He replied: “I want you to do it; and also of my appearance here, and the test I gave to the lady.” He said he was going over the country, wherever he could find mediums through whom he could materialize. NEW YORK, August 31, 1880. S. WATSON. FROM A PART OF OUR BAND. MR. WATSON:—I can not refrain from passing an eulogy on your book (or rather ours), which has just appeared, and which now goes out on its career of useful instruction to the world, carrying with its pages the most powerful influence which has ever emanated from any volume of its dimensions. I am not the only one who wishes to express his sanction and extreme satisfaction concerning it, and you must certainly feel that a great responsibility has been removed from you ; that from its pages many will cull profitable and beautiful ideas of what has previously only appeared to them in a very obscure and doubt- ful manner. Yes, send it out, scatter it far and wide; your reward awaits you, both in this and the other world. Your have not only accomplished what was good to you, but some- thing which will ultimately crown you with a blessed inherit- ance beyond the vale. - Go on; don’t become discouraged. God will bless you ever Ill OTC. H. G. HALL. w BRO. WATSON :—Think not strange of my confession, nor think it is out of place, when I pass sentence of our book. It is neat, chaste, beautiful, harmonious in sentiment, simple : and elegant. To a reflective and searching mind, many ob- scure phases or points of doctrine are made so clear that any may read to understand many points of deep interest. You have done so much that will benefit your fellow-men, and that will elevate Spiritualism to its proper standard. Go on when you can, and circulate everything which will bring about a reconciliation, for there is such a diversity of opinion upon this subject. * SLATER. BRO. WATSON :—A brighter day is dawning upon our much- adored doctrine of spirit communion and control. Your book (400) FROM A PART OF OUR BAND. 4OI will tell its own history, and well you may commend it. Upon careful perusal, it is calculated to elevate this doctrine, which has been so long abused. O glorious truth ! O happy thought. Yes, send it abroad to those whom you feel would like to enlighten themselves, and the world at large. We thank you for the space which has been committed to us. Go on, my brother. I am glad that so many of our leaders who should say what should be done, and what should not be done, will cease to grope their way in darkness. Go on. With prayers for your success, PARSONs. MY DEAR SON :—Last, but not least, comes your father, who wishes to say that I am much gratified. Sammy, with this success, in the completion of your last (perhaps) undertaking of its kind. You don't deserve much credit after all, my son, for it was done by other agencies, yet you are to be blessed for being the instrument used. I am so much gratified. LEVIN WATSON. SAMMY :—Testimony, and words expressing our thoughts, are what encourage and please, or to the opposite. You will not object to having these in reference to your work, which has come to hand. We are all happy. So much has and will be said, that I will be brief. It is everything spirit or mortal should desire or expect. DUPRIE. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. The Herald of Progress, London, England, thus speaks of “The Religion of Spiritualism : its Phenomena and its Philos- ophy,” by Rev. SAMUEL WATson : The author of this volume was for thirty-six years a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been admired for his manly independence and vigorous thought. The volume opens out with a biographical sketch of the author, by Hudson Tuttle, who eulogizes his subject and commends his works as “invaluable missionary agents.” The opening chapters of the volume are devoted to the dis- cussion of the important question, “The Harmony of Re- ligions,” and in them the author very clearly points out that the religions of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and India have all had one common origin; and he maintains that there have been cycles of thought, which being marked off in the roll of time, characterize the divisions of the human race by systems and nationalities; and says, “We are living in one of those cycles which we think is drawing to a close, and a new and brighter day is dawning upon us, such as has never been wit- nessed in the world's history—an era, when the principles, precepts, and practices of the religion of Jesus will be recog- nized by those who are governed by moral principle, and the inalienable right of freedom, without the dictate of authority, claiming to be of divine origin, will be universally acknowl- edged by mankind.” Passing on to Biblical testimony, the reader has placed be- fore him the many instances of spirits appearing, and spiritual intercourse, as recorded in the Bible ; and the author, being a divinity student, and educated in and for the ministry, it can be well understood that he is “quite at home” with this part of his subject. Suffice it to say, that with a masterly grasp of the various details narrated in the Bible, illustrated by nearly (402) OPINIONS OF THE PRESs. 4O3 thirty years experience in all phases of spiritual phenomena, the author presents a clear and comprehensive view, and proves the whole phenomena to be identical, and proceeding from the same causes. In a very clear and reasonable manner the author relates his experiences in the home circle, and with all the noted American mediums. A chapter is devoted to the author's views of the “Philosophy of Spirit-Control: illustrated by Science;” while others treat of the interesting themes,—The Religion of Jesus; Faith and Works; Death or Transition, and what follows; Spirits in prison ; Spirit Laws; Recom- pense; The Resurrection; The Spirit World, and a Series. of Spiritual Communications. The concluding chapters of the work,+Opposition to Spiritualism Unreasonable; The Church's Past and Present, evince a spirit of liberality and a conception of the needs of the human soul, that testify to the soundness of judgment of their author, and of the earnestness which has inspired his investigation and advocacy of Spiritual- ISI]]. Dr. Watson is a popular writer, of the same school of thought as Dr. Peebles, and like this distinguished veteran, has such a forcible and easy way of expressing his thoughts that even on the flost difficult themes, his meaning will not be misunder- stood. In the “Religion of Spiritualism” there is no attempt to scientific display. The writer's forfe is evidently in the recon- ciliation of the Bible, its precepts and phenomenal records, with those of modern spiritual phenomena, and the harmony existing between the inspired utterances of to-day with those of by-gone ages. Considering the fact that the sects of the present time are beginning to look more favorably on the sub- ject, and require food suited to their digestive capabilities, which must in some measure bridge over the supposed and imaginary conflict between the Bible and spiritual manifesta- tions, and reconcile the declarations and prophecies of the past with the commands of Moses, this volume will meet a long-felt want, and, we are convinced, prove of inestimable value to those contending against the force of early tuitions. We can recommend the work as a powerful missionary agent, and our sincerest wish is that the aim and purpose of the author may be fully realized in an extended embrace of the truths enunciated. We close this brief notice with a quota- 4O4. OPINIONs of THE PRESS. tion from the work, which will clearly indicate its catholic spirit. “What the world needs now is a living, palpable, heal- ing faith, which will lead to active works for humanity. . . . . A faith that is not dependent on mere external formulas, but that which will inspire universal, holy and heavenly hopes. Such a faith we believe Spiritualism is destined to supply.” FROM THE Olive A'ranch. “The Religion of Spiritualism—its Phenomena and Philos- ophy,” is the title of a book just published by Dr. Samuel Wat- son, of Memphis, Tenn. The phenomena and philosophy of Spiritualism are attracting the attention of multitudes of people within the orthodox Church, as well as many who are not identified with any religious organization. To all inquiries this book will commend itself. Dr. Watson has had a large experience in connection with spiritual manifestations. Pos- sessing a keen, cultivated intellect, he has spared neither time nor expense to prove the genuineness or falsity of the phe- nomena of which this book treats. We commend it to the reading public as being just what they need. FROM THE Banner of Light. “The Religion of Spiritualism : its Phenomena and Philos- ophy. By Samuel Watson, author of ‘The Clock Struck One, Two, and Three,’ Thirty-six Years a Methodist minister.” Mr. Watson's long connection with one of the largest and most influential religious organizations in this country, together with his well-known character for integrity of purpose and faithfulness in the discharge of every known duty, combine to render this a book that will attract the attention and command the studious perusal of thoughtful minds. It contains the principal records of a critical investigation of nearly all phases of spirit-manifestation through a period of twenty-seven years, commenced with a belief that Spiritualism was “the prince of humbugs,” and a purpose to expose it, and ending with a con- viction that it is a truth far transcending all others in value to mankind. The book here presented will prove one of inesti- mable worth, not only to Spiritualists, but to those who, not having witnessed the phenomena, have no information of the facts which form the immovable foundation on which Spiritual- ists base not merely a belief, but a knowledge of the reality of OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 405 a future life. It is eminently well adapted to place in the hands of those whose attachment to the faiths and forms of the Church incline them to have nothing to do with the subject upon which it treats. FROM THE Western Zight. RELIGION OF SPIRITUALISM.–Mr. Samuel Watson's new book, “Religion of Spiritualism,” will be a great addition to the spiritual literary productions of the day, treating, as it does, upon all phases of spirit power. The author clearly demon- strates that Biblical history only derived its origin from the same invisible source of manifesting intelligence that gladly comes to earth for the uplifting of humanity. The book is re- plete with truths that make it very desirable to investigators who seek knowledge from the observations of others. FROM THE Fountain of Zight. A new book comes to us from Rev. Dr. Watson, of Mem- phis, Tenn., entitled “Religion of Spiritualism.” The work is neatly bound in cloth, contains 4oo pages, 12mo. To those desiring knowledge concerning the true philosophy of Spirit- ualism, the phenomena of manifestation, the true reason why they return to earth, and the pure, undefiled religion of angelic commands, we cordially recommend this work. Dr. Watson was for thirty-six years a Methodist minister of high standing. The price of this work we see is $1.25, which we think very reasonable. Any one reading this work will see that Dr. Wat- son has not retrograded in the religious sphere, but has gone on to the “ministry of angels.” FROM THE Religio-Philosophical Journal. The name of Samuel Watson has become a household word to all Spiritualists. He represents the great class who have come out of the churches, retaining more or less of the train. ing, methods of thought, and educational bias of the organiza- tions which they have left. Of all the more prominent per- Sons who have found in Spiritualism a refuge from the doc- trines of the churches, Mr. Watson from the first has been the most free from prejudice, and taken the broadest and most liberal views. This is the more surprising because of his. 406 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, long training in the ranks of the ministry, and his wide and unsevered connection therewith. He, of course, as would be expected, leans to the religious side of Spiritualism rather than the scientific, feeling that his great life's work is to develop that aspect of this great subject. He is conscious of the control of a band of spirits, “most of whom were preachers,” who have supervised the work. He says in the preface : “I, therefore, claim nothing for myself, though I have writ- . ten much of the matter it contains. I wish it distinctly under- stood that I have been used simply as an instrument, through, whom those who have passed over the river of life, can com- municate with those who remain, by impressing me to write, select, and arrange a book for them.” From this stand-point, and with such helpers, the work nec- essarily leans to the Christian side, and treats all the questions it discusses in relation to their bearing on the received church beliefs. It does this in the most commendable and gentle manner, and no one can criticise its spirit of genuine love and Catholicity. Mr. Watson says on page 150 : “There are fanatics among Spiritualists as there are among all religions. The intelligent Spiritualist appeals to reason as well as the Bible, to establish the philosophy of spirit-commun- ion. He would build up all that is noble in man, and useful and improving in all organizations of society, religious or other- wise. He would not destroy, but spiritualize the churches, and bring them to the primitive purity whereby spirit-commun- ion wielded such a powerful influence for good over the masses of mankind. . . . . Spiritualism is a solvent containing that principle which we believe is destined ultimately to bind all, religions into one.” w How P He answers : “We believe if the pure and simple doctrines taught by Jesus had been adhered to in their primitive simplicity, that the civilized world would have long since embraced them as embodying the true principles of a common brotherhood of humanity, and one universal religion, recognizing one divine heavenly Father of all the races of men.” We accept, in a measure, these views of Spiritualism, yet we ask how is it possible to “bind all religions into one’ by the solvent powers of Spiritualism, when such prominence is given to one religious system over all others ? It is true that OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 4O7 Spiritualism is such solvent, but when it has dissolved all sys- tems, is it certain that the primitive doctrines taught by Jesus, will stand so much above those taught by other seers, as Christ- na, Buddha, or Confucius P. Jesus the Nazarene, and Jesus as he is idealized, in the mind of Mr. Watson, are very distinct creations. The ideal Jesus never existed, and is as various as the idealizing mind. The real Jesus was a carpenter endowed with the faculty of mediumship. In all his teachings, and all important to him, there occurs not a single statement of truth not already known to the world. Again, when we are told that the Spiritualist “would not destroy, but spiritualize the churches,” we are at a loss to un- derstand how this can take place. We know that the churches are being spiritualized, and that the spirit of the age, of free thought, is wafting them away from the grim coast of bigotry, but we also see that all they gain in this direction is so much lost to them as churches. To spiritualize, is to destroy. They have recognized Spiritualism as their common foe, and sought— “By malice, spite, and lies, To desecrate its name.” Because, if the returned spirits teach that man never fell; that there is no efficacy in the atoning blood of Christ; that there are not three gods; that there is no fiery hell, nor horned devil; no golden New Jerusalem; no judgment day; that life being continuous, reform can begin beyond the grave; that all days are equally holy, and all places equally filled with the presence of God, and that man can not get “lost” from an infinite being, and that a thousand other beliefs held as sacred, are children's tales, what is left of the churches to “spiritualize” P What is the need for the churches P Churches are to save souls that never have been lost ! Mr. Watson's iconoclasm presents a mild exterior, and its words have a honeyed sound, and in the end they prophesy as effectual demolition, as the roughest idol-breaker could desire. We have not space to even mention the subjects of the many excellent chapters wherein the multiplicity of facts com- ing directly under the cognizance of the author, are recorded, or the able passages devoted to showing the inseparable con- nection of the Bible with Spiritualism. The book will fulfill an important mission among church members. The undoubted honesty of its author, his sincerity and integrity of character, his * 408 OPINIONS OF THE PREss. wide celebrity as a Methodist minister, and more than all, the gentlemannerin which he presents his subject, will gain the book wide attention, and make it a valuable help to the cause. Brother Watson leads others out of the church by the same means he was led out of its pale himself. He has not forgot- ten the difficulties. He is an example of a church member “spiritualized,” and when he succeeds in spiritualizing the church, they will be all like him, and ready to move on still further to the recognition of the futility of a church name which has become meaningless. Near the close of the volume, Brother Watson has a chapter on Home Circles, which I only regret can not be inserted in these columns in full, for it abounds in valuable thoughts. He takes strong grounds in favor of the “Home Circle,” and most true are his words, for on it the surest extension of Spiritual- ism depends. We quote: “We urge those who wish to investigate the subject of spirit- communion, to form circles at home. This is the most satis- factory mode for testing the truth of the phenomena. There is no motive for deception. . . . . They will do more than any other plan of investigating to convince inquirers that their loved ones are near them. What we have realized in our own family, has been worth more than all we have witnessed from Boston to Texas, for more than a score of years.” The fact is that the private home circle has been too much overlooked and too great reliance placed on professional me- diums. HUDSON TUTTLE. sº FROM THE Phrenological Journal. “The Religion of Spiritualism : its Phenomena and Phi- losophy. By Samuel Watson, author of ‘Clock Struck One, Two, and Three.' 12mo, pp. 399. Printed for the Author by Edward O. Jenkins, New York.” The author states in the title-page of his book, “thirty-six years a Methodist minister,” and it might be added, a promi- nent minister in Western Methodism during a considerable part of that time. Whether or not this should give special weight to his present utterance, will be left to the reader's dis- cretion. Mr. Watson is of opinion that phenomena of a supernatural or spiritualistic sort are necessary in the present condition of religious affairs to demonstrate the truth of Chris- OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 4O9 tianity; to supersede faith by knowledge; to harmonize sec- tarian organizations, and promote the reign of the Divine will in the human heart. The usual Bible passages are reviewed, which are cited to support the doctrines of Spiritualism, from the appearance of the angels to Adam and Eve, to the manifestations of which the apostles of Christ were the subjects. These statements are of course taken literally. Besides such topics as “Writing Mediums,” Materialization, the Philosophy of Spirit Control, the Nature of Death, are subjects of careful discussion by the author. Interpreting St. Paul's celebrated statements in I Cor. xv., he says: “The birth, death, and resurrection of the man, and the sowing, death, and germination of the grain, are thus mutually representative; and the comparison of the apostle is justified and borne out even into details. In both, death is therefore the gate of life; or, more properly speaking, there is no death, as it is taught by theology. . . . . It (death) bursts the bars of the prison—throws down the doors that the ‘inner man’ may ascend. The body is as the chrysalis, con- cealed in the grub. It rends the pupa case that the psyche may come forth. It is the pulling down of the scaffolding that the building may be considered.” Hence immediately after death the spirit is in a state of conscious activity, and capable of exercising its individual properties. Two hundred or more pages are occupied by “Communications,” which, as a rule, are of a good class, intelligent, and with a motive ; and “speaking better things” for the cause the author advocates than the average “phenomena” of the Spiritualist. FROM THE Psycometric Circular. “The Religion of Spiritualism : its Phenomena and Philos- ophy.” This is a volume of 399 pages, recently issued by its author, Rev. Samuel Watson, Memphis, Tenn. Dr. Watson is the author of several valuable works on Spiritualism, of which “The Religion of Spiritualism” is the latest. For thirty-six years Dr. Watson was a Methodist minister, and the evidences of the truth of Spiritualism coming to him in a manner that was conclusive, he did not “hide his light behind a bushel,” but, like the true man that he is, he boldly pro- claimed his convictions; and that he might be subject to no I8 4 IO OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. ecclesiastical restraints, Dr. Watson severed his connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which, as we have said, he had been for thirty-six years an honored and influ- ential member. We shall refer again to “The Religion of Spiritualism,” as we regard it as one of the best works recently issued from the Spiritual press. We shall obtain a supply of Dr. Watson's books, and every way in our power will aid in their circulation. FROM THE Banner of Zight. “The Religion of Spiritualism : its Phenomena and Philoso- phy. By Samuel Watson, author of ‘The Clock Struck One, Two, andThree,’ Thirty-six Years a Methodist Minister, etc.” We need not remark that this new work is a good one : the name of its author is a guarantee of that, and the name of the book is one that will attract the attention of a class of readers which a more “worldly” title might not reach. Mr. Watson was cradled in the Church; was, as its disciples love to say, “nurtured in the fear and admonition of the Lord.” At the early age of twenty-three he entered the ministry of the Methodists; for a third of a century he was one of the leading and influential members of that organization, and held various offices of honor and trust in the ranks of its public workers. It is a fact worthy of note that the Methodists have always been predisposed to the acceptance of Spiritualism, even long prior to its bearing the prefix “Modern.” Wesley, the “father of Methodism,” had experiences with spirit-manifestations, and gave glowing accounts of the same ; the Fox family, within whose home the “rap,” whose echo has been heard around the globe, were Methodists; and the entire history of the sect is freely interspersed with indications of spirit-presence. * Mr. Watson began to investigate the subject in 1853. At that time he had in his family at Memphis, Tenn., a colored servant-girl whose mediumistic powers manifested themselves by remarkable phenomena; so much so that they convinced him the manifestations claimed to be spiritual could not be explained by any law of physics or metaphysics with which he was acquainted. It was not, however, until 1855 that he be- came assured the spirit theory advanced was the truth con- cerning them. In that year a circle was formed for a thorough, systematic investigation of the subject in the city of Memphis. This circle was composed of five physicians, three clergymen OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 4 II (one of them being the Episcopal Bishop of the State of Ten- nessee), and several influential laymen of various churches— twelve members in all. The medium of whose services they were to avail themselves was a reliable young lady, a member of the Baptist Church, and one in whom all had the strictest confidence; in fact, she, as well as the others, was desirous of testing the subject by every possible method, in order to as- certain the truth respecting it. Commencing with the raps, the manifestations advanced step by step, until spirit forms became visible to all, and com- munications of the highest import were received, a full account of which is given in this volume. Mr. Watson was at that time the pastor of a church of five hundred members, one of the largest in the South. Convinced of the truth of Spiritual- ism he did not hesitate to announce his belief, and on Sunday, from his pulpit, he avowed his faith in the new revelation. This avowal caused a sensation, aroused antagonism, and opened controversy, both public and private. The work now given to the public by Mr. Watson is a well- arranged record of all that preceded and followed this impor- tant epoch in his life, so far as his thoughts, opinions, and ex- periences relating to spiritual subjects have a bearing. It is a handsome volume of four hundred pages, comprising twenty- nine chapters with an appendix, the first two of which have for their subject the “Harmony of Religions,” their aim being to prove that the sacred books of all nations revolve upon one common central truth or idea ; and that, viewed by the light of the Spiritual Philosophy, they are seen to have the same origin. In the succeeding chapter the author proceeds to show from the Bible itself that it rests solely upon the manifestations and teachings of the spirits of those who once dwelt upon earth, and that they appeared and communicated with mortals under every dispensation. Following this, the phenomena of Spiritualism are duly con- sidered—numerous accounts being given of what the author has seen—and comparative proof is deduced from the Bible in evidence of their being identical in nature and purpose with those recorded in the Scriptures. In the next chapter the author asserts that Spiritualism de- mands investigation as a science and a philosophy; that it lifts the veil between the natural and the spiritual world, and reveals much in regard to man's future in the other life. The 4 I 2 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. conclusion arrived at by Mr. Watson as to its moral bearing on the every-day life of humanity is that Spiritualism enunci- ates the great and glorious principles taught by Jesus in his sermon on the mount, and is calculated to effect great changes for the betterment of mankind. “The Philosophy of Spirit Control Illustrated by Science,” is the subject of chapter nine, and those that follow are, “Biblical Proof of Spirit Manifestations,” “Biblical History,” “Religion of Jesus,” “Faith and Works,” “Death or Transi- tion, and What Follows,” “Does Probation Terminate with Earth-Life?” “The Resurrection,” “Spirit-World,” “The Law of Recompense,” “Mystery's Communications,” and “Rev. John Moss, late Presiding Elder of the Memphis Dis- trict.” Mr. Watson in 1872 presented Mr. Moss with a copy of “Clock Struck One,” upon receiving which the latter said with emphasis: “I would not believe that spirits returned to earth and communicated with mortals if God himself were to tell me so.” Three years subsequent Mr. Moss passed to the spirit-world, and shortly after personally testified to the truth of what he had so vehemently declared to be false by commu- nicating with Mr. Watson; the particulars of his return, and the messages he gave being given in this chapter, which closes with a message from a spirit addressed to the clergy. The nine chapters that complete the volume consist of com- munications from many who when in this life held prominent positions before the public; narratives of interesting occur- rences at the home-circle of the author, and much that is in- teresting and instructive. The book is of interest to all, but is of special value as one suitable to place in the hands of those who, indoctrinated with the dogmas of the Church, are disposed to turn a deaf ear to all else, and will not “believe if one rose from the dead”—as the author's long connection with the Church entitles him to at least a fair hearing from them. MR. J. MURRAY CASE, Columbus, O., writes: “Please accept thanks for your book, ‘Religion of Spirit- ualism.’ I have read it with much interest. I treasure it more for the spirit of Christianity it teaches, than for the phenom- enal tests, yet these tests and communications are necessary to those who have never witnessed them, in order to stimu- late investigation. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 4 I.3 “Your book will go largely into the hands of those who have never investigated Spiritualism, but have been educated in the various theological schools of thought. Embracing, as it does, a defense of Christianity in its pure primitive form, and pre- senting evidence of phenomena in our own day corresponding to those recorded in our Bible, it becomes at once a most powerful instrument to lead those in darkness into the light of pure Spiritualism, and to exercise a modifying influence upon those who have drifted into extremes and become in a measure anti-Christian. “Your book will perform a good work in its tendency to bring together these extremes, and the formation of one universal church with no creed but to do good. The signs of the times all point to this direction. Our spiritual journals are less anti-Christian than ever before. The character and teach- ings of Christ are held in higher esteem. The old Bible is not ridiculed so much. The Christian spirit among Spirit- ualists, especially the leading minds, is taking deep root. The iconoclastic work is nearly all done, and the hearts of our people are becoming warmed up so that they feel the necessity of a pure religion, and many feel that the pattern which Christ has given us, can never be improved upon ; all this while the Church is gradually, but surely, moving upwards to the plane occupied by you as taught in your book. In all this I seem to realize that the day is near at hand when all men may worship under the shadow of one roof. Your book is an in- spired instrument, prepared under the wise guidance of angels, to assist in bringing about this glorious result.” DR. E. CROWELL, author of two large volumes demonstrat- ing that Primitive Christianity and Modern Spiritualism are identical, says: “I have carefully perused the book, and am greatly pleased with its contents and the spirit which pervades it. It records the teachings of advanced spirits and treats of the spiritual phenomena generally, and thus the work covers a wider field than your former works. It is luminous with Christian Spir- itualism and in perfect harmony with the teachings of the great medium martyr, Jesus. “It is admirably calculated to favorably impress the minds, especially of the Methodist clergy and their flocks, and to con- vince them that there is nothing in Spiritualism that is antag- 4I4 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. onistic to rational religion, but on the contrary, that all its higher teachings are elevating and harmonious with the true devotional spirit. “It casts a flood of light on the Spiritualism of the Bible, and lucidly interprets the teachings of the New Testament. The entire spirit of the book is the same as that which inspired the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of men. I hope it may have a circulation commensurate to the importance of the subject and its own merits.” REv. HERMAN SNow, of San Francisco, Cal., says: “I think the “Religion of Spiritualism’ is wonderfully adapt- ed to do a good work within the limits and upon the borders of the Christian Churches. Indeed, in this respect, if not in all, its equal has hardly as yet made its appearance in our kiter- ature of Spiritualism. It will doubtless have an extensive sale, and do its work; that it will be a bright gem in your crown of rejoicing when you shall have passed over to the other side, and be enabled to do a still more important work amid the freedom, the brightness, and joy of the supermufi- dane life.” MR. EPEs SARGENT, Boston, writes: “Many thanks for your beautiful volume which I received to-day, but which, as yet, I have not had time to read thoroughly. “What I have read impresses me strongly in favor of the book. Some of the communications, especially those from Perguson, seem to me well worthy of their spiritual origin— carrying solemn warnings as they do for us, not to receive as infallible any communications from the spirit-world that do not accord with our own reason and sense of right. I shall use my influence to have the book well and repeatedly noticed in our Spiritual journals. Hoping you got home safely, and in good health, I am, dear Sir, truly and fraternally yours.” He has communicated with us freely since his transition to the spirit-world. See the Banner of Light. DR. D. WINDER, of Lockland, Ohio, writes: “On receiving the book from the post-office, and removing the wrapper, I became overwhelmingly impressed with the presence of some accompanying ‘ministering spirit’ whose identity I should be much pleased to learn. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 4 IS “Since the arrival of your inspired volume, wife and I have our regular sittings. I read a chapter more or less, taking ample time for us both to take in its contents and digest their import. You can easily imagine the great advantage your blessed volume is to us, in the absence of a reliable medium. We thank our Father in heaven, that through you, as His chosen instrument, we are enabled in our age to thus com- municate with some of the most advanced spirits of the celes- tial spheres. Oh, my blessed Brother, you will never know, until you pass over to the land of redeemed souls, how much good you are accomplishing in this sin-benighted world. “I hope you will not become weary in well-doing, knowing that in due time you shall reap if you faint not. Wife and I greatly rejoice that while you have broken loose from the shackles of creeds and priestcraft, you have not been carried into the opposite extremes, that now characterize many modern Spiritualists. The Scripture illustrations you furnish in your book, of the facts and truths of modern Spiritualism, will com- pel all honest Christians who read to admit its truth, or aban- don the Bible as standard authority. “We have thoroughly digested the contents of every chapter and paragraph, and can truly say we have been fed with spirit- ual food of a quality and variety never before experienced by us. “Many times during the reading of those angelic communi- cations, we realized their presence with us, rendering us so exquisitely happy, that human language is inadequate to con- vey any full conception of our peace and joy. To us your extraordinary success in convincing the piously disposed, of the truth of spirit communion is no mystery or unsolved prob- lem. Your conservatism, and charitable conceptions, in refer- ence to the claims of sincere Christian professors, can not fail to soften the prejudice and bigotry of the Churches, and ob- tain for you a hearing from many whose ears and hearts are closed against even the same truths, when uttered by radical iconoclasts. I feel very certain, that if your book could be read by honest and intelligent members of the Churches, many of them would yield to the force of its teachings. There is certainly no volume now in existence, so well calculated to Overcome the prejudice and win the hearts of pious Chris- tians as this book.” 416 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. W. R. ELLIS, Huntsville, Ala., gives his opinion : “I have just finished reading ‘The Religion of Spiritualism.” I can not convey, by any words I can pen, the satisfaction I have derived from its perusal, and the solid good it has done me. I wish it could be placed in the family of every so-called Spiritualist in the land, that they might learn the lesson you convey, that Spirituality is the great need of Spiritualists. That “they are on too material a plane,’ and that too much in portance is attached to the phenomenal phase of Spiritual- 1SII]. “And again, I wish it could be placed in the ſamily of every Church member, that they might learn the lesson, that what- ever psychological law will explain the modern phenomena, will also sweep the ancient into oblivion. They stand or fall together. s “The points made at the close of the book, under the head of, ‘Come, and let us reason together,’ are worthy of the care- ful commendation of every thinking man, and though not a prophet, ‘nor the son of a prophet,' I see clearly that the time is approaching, and that right rapidly, when these views will command attention. “I trust the book may run through many editions.” MR. R. W. WALKER, of Searcy, Ark., says: “It is the best work that I have read on that subject, and I think will be a power in causing the religious people to inves- tigate Spiritualism.” MRS. EMMA HARDINGE BRITTON writes: “Dear Friend —When I want to forget the transcendental moonshine and irrational radicalism with which our noble cause is too often ruined, I can find no better method than by taking up some of your well-written, rational, and always pure- minded pages. You may be sure, therefore, that I highly ap- preciate, as I sincerely thank you, for your best valuable con- tribution to our Spiritual literature.” THE following is from a prominent official in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in one of the Eastern cities: “I received the book in due time. It is a universal favorite. Every one that peruses it commends it. I have read many books on Spiritualism, but have seen none to compare with . OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 41 7 yours. So free from cant, prejudice, or formality, but full of love to humanity; Spirituality, and information pleasantly divided into subjects—all the teachings, short, concise, and full of food in every paragraph. “Where can we get copies of the work P I have calls for it. Even our old father-in-law, orthodox as he is, loves to read your book. We seem to commence a new era of exist- ence.” *- THE Banner says: “Samuel Watson's ‘Religion of Spiritualism' is on our shelves, and is full of the warm enthusiasm of that Methodist Church in which he wrought for thirty-six years as a leading preacher, and of the clear ideas, the broad views, and the in- spiration of his new faith and knowledge. He is faithful and uncompromising, yet has a beautiful charity. It is an excel- lent missionary book for thinking people in the Churches, as well as valuable for us.” We have given the opinions of the press and some persons who have written popular spiritual books, in regard to the “Religion of Spiritualism.” Some of them are very flattering, and if we claimed to be the author or originator of the work, might have a tendency to make us what we do not want to be. The authors are on the other side of the veil, and we have only been the instrument they have used to give to the world their views of what is Truth. The first edition having been exhausted, by their direction we publish another. º We close these notices with one from the San Jose (Cal.) Mercury: “The Religion of Spiritualism : its Phenomena and Philos- ophy. By Rev. Samuel Watson, thirty-six years a Methodist Minister.” We have received from Col. Bundy, of the Religio-Philo- sophical Journal of Chicago, a copy of the above work. It is a neatly printed volume of 400 pages, and treats of Spiritual- ism and its phenomena from a Christian stand-point. He en- deavors to show that the Bible account of the manifestations of spirit phenomena are the same in kind as the modern mani- festations of the same phenomena. He says: “Christianity, as we understand it, stands upon precisely the same basis 4 8 * MORE FROM OUR BAND. as Spiritualism, and whatever destroys modern manifestations must, with unprejudiced minds, do the same with the ancient, though they may have become hoary with the veneration of antiquity.” The price of the work is $1.5o. We correct an error this and some other papers have made, as to the price. Some have had it $1.75. As we never wrote or published books to make money, but to do good, we put the price of this at less than the cost of the first edition, $1.25 per copy. It can be procured of Messrs. Colby & Rich, Boston, Mass. ; Col. John C. Bundy, Chicago, Ill. ; Charles R. Miller, Brook- lyn, N. Y.; or from the author, at Memphis, Tenn. ON Sunday night, January 9th, we received the following from Epes Sargent, at our Home Circle. Little did I think when I was his guest last summer, that he would so soon visit me in our quiet home : “Minds which are in affinity with each other are attracted more readily, and naturally seek the inter- course which finally leads to a more perfect completion of that spiritual development and happiness in the beautiful home be- yond the changing scenes of mortal life. “My esteemed and highly respected companion in life's battles, I have willed that I should be enabled to appear some way to you and feel that my happiness is so much enhanced by being permitted to control this organism. You and your wife have been discoursing upon my merits, and I may say de- merits (for no one is free #. them), until I have been irresist- ibly drawn to the circle. I am a free and happy spirit, having triumphed ovér the grave and death. My soul is drinking drafts from the fountain of life and love, and I am exultingly happy this evening. Why? because I have realized so much which bade my spirit soar far beyond all earthly haunts and pleasures. My soul cries out for more knowledge that I might not remain even in the sphere which I hope soon to reach. I need your assistance. This is my prayer and wish. O my life-work, how it looms up before my vision, and my memory cherishes it above all else. You understand me. I am not sufficiently able to write as I desire, but I shall do so as early as I can. “I am, as I ever was, myself, the same in feeling, sentiments, and capacity, though I hope to feel the latter greatly enlarged. The avenues of my Being are open, and are to be MORE FROM OUR BAND. 4 IQ the receptacle of all that is of a high, noble, and profound nature. My mind expands and it comprehends much more fully than before. My life is immortal—purity is stamped upon the tablet of my heart. I am too full to say more to-night, but will soon. Your friend, “EPES SARGENT.” The next Sunday night we received the following: “My Friend : Your extreme desire for me to again enjoy the privi- lege of an intercourse with me, and with my deep and sincere wish to do so, I have again made the offer to intermingle our thoughts and to interchange the same with you in the quietude of the hour.” “The new-born spirit derives comfort and strength from fre- quent intercommunion. I am as a bud blossomed into the fullness of its capacity. As a child, in my experience obtained in the full enjoyment, freedom, and liberty of my new existence, I could not realize at first when my body left its earthly organ- ism. I am but born from the encasement of the material. I have much will-power, and to this I am indebted for the de- gree of enjoyment. I know there is a reward for me and for you. I mean a reward that I may make it plain to you my reward is a compensation for all that I have done on the earthly plane. The exchange of existences was to me a very glorious one. The new birth is a transition. I was not a stranger to the character of the exit, for I had had foretastes of my life's ebbing away. I was familiar with the conditions at- tending departure. I felt that my life had been spent in the elevation of my fellow-men, and to elevate we must feel that our souls have been elevated. I felt that I had spent a life- time in endeavoring to reach the acme of right, truth, and love to all. This was my strength and my shield. Strength was imparted to my now winged spirit that I might lose no time in finishing up my earthly career, that I might establish the great doctrine of spirit communion. Talents must be improved. Time must be occupied. It is a vast mistake to think for one moment that our period of usefulness terminates with our earthly existence. I would be indescribably unhappy. The ecstatic bliss of a well-preserved life as well as a well-sowed knows no abatement. The triumph leads us on to glory, or rather step by step in Divine wisdom. I find, nothing is lost, but much gained. 'Tis for your encouragement that I write thus, for you deserve all I can give. I am giving you a short synopsis of 42O MORE FROM OUR BAND. my experience and hope you will be much benefited. I shall visit you again and give you something more pertaining to my home and condition—of how we shall act to merit the favor of the pure and holy; remembering that I am only enabled to do so through this lady's organism. EPES SARGENT.” Rev. E. C. Slater concludes a very interesting communica- tion by saying: “We want you to go ahead with your second edition of your book. There are many hundreds, yes, thousands of people waiting anxiously for its appearance, thirsting for the knowledge therein contained. “You should become an organized body, and occupy a differ- ent position in the public mind. You should be a united body, and then you will gain strength You would command more respect, and in consecrated effort you could do much good.” I conclude these communications by giving one upon the same subject, who was the most successful organizer of modern times. When he commenced organizing the societies which have grown to be the largest Protestant Church in the world, he showed a liberality rarely seen in our day. I copy from the Methodist discipline “The general rules of “The United Societies’” organized by Mr. Wesley, in 1739. They are as follows: “There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these societies.” On the 28th of January he gave us the following: “BRO. WATSON :—The subject which is now more generally and earnestly agitating the minds of the class called Spiritual- ists, is ‘Organization.’ This is an important step to be taken, for upon it the good and success greatly depend. “There is so much to consider in doing it—consequently I would advise you to be cautious. I being a believer in Chris- tianity and in affinity with you, in this particular, I can but express my views—knowing at the same time that some of my suggestions will meet with opposition from those who for argument's sake are inclined to an extensive liberal platform, and in this you must proceed with a careful and prayerful course. You must be an organized body, for until you are, your influence, and the good which would be felt, will be lost. “You should be a united body upon the fundamental prin- ciples which your belief enbraces, not necessarily upon all points, for this could not be expected; for where will you find many, if any church organizations united upon all points P – hence the different denominations. Neither do you find all MoRE FROM OUR BAND. 42 I members agree in all articles of belief. It is not natural for two persons having the faculties of reasoning and thinking, each independently of the other, to believe alike on all sub- jects; yet upon the main points all can agree. “Now, you want a Church denominated the Spiritual, and in that we want to see the results extend far and wide. The world needs sqmething more heavenly and less bigoted; more humility and less contention; more freedom and less tyranny; more spiritual and less material; more in its nature and works, like the teachings of Jesus. “Now, we your band think that you could, with the Divine principle and assistance of the angel world, with love to God and man, and the promptings of a heart to always do good, that you may expect the same to you, believing that you must manifest your religion in works, and good deeds, and charity to all, believing that you are under the guidance of spirit guides, and directed by the same, always looking to Jesus as the Great teacher, and Christ as the divine principle, which should permeate your very nature, that your hearts can be made to feel the fruition’of love emanating from this principle. You can be one in spirit, and truth, and sustain each other in this kind of organization. “The Christian side doubts not the immortality of the soul; for your most convincing proof is that which you see, and have realized through the medium of spirit intercourse. “That you make your state of future happiness, or of sorrow ; that your life is just beginning when the spirit leaves the body; that you continue to develop in the image of our Creator; that your work just begins, or rather, that you continue in your work; that you may rise to greater heights of spiritual glory and knowledge ; that expansion of intellect which con- tinues to unfold new and hidden treasures which your vision has never beheld, nor brain conceived. That your love for God and His works is wonderfully intensified; that your pity for His erring ones is increased; that you delight more in their reformation, and endeavor to elevate them to your standard of what is right, true, and pure. “Now, you must keep yourselves separate and apart from an antagonizing element, or else you can never be harmonious ; and in your organization you must be less inclined to overrate yourselves—or in other words, be less inclined to pull down the Church which has stood the tempests of many ages. 422 MORE FROM OUR BAND. “You must accomplish this work more in your exemplary course, than by an attempt to uproot them. You will find that you can wield a power in the pursuance of this conciliatory COUl ISC. “You need your schools, your colleges, your lecturers, your well-disciplined system of labor, and until you do take the step in that direction you will never prosper. “Now I have given you these hints, you can act accordingly. I am your band, or rather one of them, who is addressing you this evening. JoHN WESLEy.” Epes Sargent, speaking through Mrs. Richmond, says: “There is no pain in dying. I did not pass through space to find my new world ; I did not go to a distant planet. Space came to me, and was at once inhabited. I saw all friends of the earthly life as really as I saw them before passing away, but with a different vision. I saw them afar off, on the line of light of memory. I saw them more clearly, because I saw their spirits; this friendship that I had valued too little, another that I had valued too much ; this mind that seemed a brilliant and shining light through the human lens, grew, per- haps, less brilliant, while another that I had scarcely recognized Suddenly loomed up before me as a burning, shining planet. In the spirit all things become real. . . . . He who seeks to avoid any difficulty in life by hurrying into the world of spirit, finds the same impenetrable barrier before him, namely, him- self; he has not escaped from himself, nor any weakness that was within him. He must now meet it face to face ; it comes nearer and nearer; it crowds upon him ; he must overcome it in spirit as he failed to overcome it in earthly life.” It is as the ebbing of a tide; as the flowing of a stream ; as the passing out of daylight into twilight ; as the coming on of autumn sunsets, wherein the whole of the western sky is flooded with a glow of light. And yet it is a wonderful surprise even to one who is accustomed to think of a future state when on earth ; to one whose mind has been carefully trained in all the schools of thought concerning immortality; to one whose religion and intellectual conviction both hinge with absolute certainty on the spiritual state. To find oneself floating out from the fastnesses of Time into the immeasurable space of Eternity, is such a matchless experience, that only those who pass through the portal of death can understand it. MoRE FROM OUR BAND. 423 The greatest surprise of all is, that you feel the gliding away of human things without a pang, or regret, or grief, or pain— feel that pain itself is departed, and that a pure, ineffable flood is coming to you. The loosening of the human affections, the hurt that comes to the heart when you hear the sob of loved ones close beside you, and cannot reply, is overbalanced by the thrill that accompanies this loosening of the mortal tie, and you feel glad of death, even while it is upon you. One cannot understand this unless he has passed to mountain heights, and seen the glory of the morning stream far out upon the sea as the sun suddenly comes up, tipping for the moment the waves with crimson and gold, and then rises in full splendor, as though never night had been there. º ：********* 3; |||| | | 3 9015 02238 5531 | OF MICHIGAN ---- --• |- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- •- ---- •- w- «- •- 2º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º?::：::：：-： ••º ,·** .*?\@%$§$% 2ººººº.. ſaeºs， g. .،