THE "SCIENCE" OF SPIRITUALISM.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4424, 25 May 1875, Page 3

THE "SCIENCE" OF SPIRITUALISM.

♦ (From the Scientific American.) On page 359 of the last volume of the Scientific American, we presented some of the teachings of science regarding spiritualism ; to-day we further elucidate the subject by brief allusions to some of the facts in the history of this latest epidemic of superstition. It broke out about twenty-five years ago, and the manifestations were popularly known as Rochester- knockings or spirit-rappings. The first mediums were three sisters ; their name was Fox. They invented the raps, the rap language, and a good part of the spiritual lingo. They originated the siance, and drove a lively business. Spiritualism speedily became a recognised institution ; there was no lack of mediums ; notoriety and money were the substantial incentives. People, it is said, are fond of humbug, and pay more liberally for it than for the necessaries of life. The majority of people, as at the present day, looked upon spiritualism as a supremely silly thing; the scientific world treated it with ridicule of wit ; a silence inspired by disgust and contempt. There were investigations ; and although many of, them were very foolish, the rapping trick was fairly exposed. The raps were traced to the persons of the Fox girls. The mechanism of the-raps was concealed and protected by the defences of womanhood ; to the modest investigator the girls' skirts were barriers more formidable than stone walls. Had women dressed like men there surely could have been no spirit-rappings, and probably no spiritualism; we commend the fact to Herr Teufelsdroeck, the great philosopher of clothes, and we shall look for a discussion of it in a future edition of his Sartor: Resartus." Of the devices employed by the early mediums, the most elaborate and successful was that of a bar of lead suspended at its centre by an elastic cord attached to and operated by the leg ; of,.course this was available only to women, and the men were obliged to resort to something else. The devotees appeared in swarms, and at the very beginning, and with the same capacity of swallowing as those of the present day. Let a jackass bray in the presence of your genuine spiritualist, and, at a hint from his medium, he hears therein only the gentle and loving voice of his dead grandmother. The early exposures counted for little among the faithful. A thousarid bogus raps, they said, could not disturb their faith in the one that they knew to be genuine. Also, the theory was invented at a very early clay that there are wicked spirits which make honest mediums cheat and lie.

Thus the Rochester blockings became modern spiritualism, with a vitality and diffusiveness comparable to those of the Canada thistle. From the rklieulouß beginning • of what, in its, inception, was probably an innocent freak of a little girl, we have to-day a superstition which will make the- nineteenth century memorable for all time. Spiritualism, as an ism or theory, was Boon perfected. But the charlatanry by which it is mainly kept alive depends upon juggling tricks which may be modified and improved. For jugglery, like all human arts, is improvable, and is governed by the laws of evolution. The raps grew into a thousand and one modified forms. Some of the new tricks, like the spirit speaking and, writing, and planchette, were too thin, and are retained only ] among the most saturated of the devotees, while those that had the strength of real merit or ingenuity, like the Davenports' cabinet and rope-tying, have maintained their popularity. At last, and we wish we could believe it the final culmination of such things,' we have the spirit materialisation. The materialisation trick was invented by a medium of this city, named Gordon, about two years ago. His exhibition was somewhat artistic, and is worthy of a description. A curtain of mosquito netting, stretched across the room, separated the operator and his paraphernalia from the spectators ; the netting served to protect the medium from intrusion, and also to givo a more ghostly appearance to the objects exhibited. In the middle of the spiritual sanctum was erected a gorgeous altar or throne, about which Gordon, arrayed in a priestly robe, ineanted or chassfed during the performance. The light was turned down to that faintness in which ghosts and spirits love to walk abroad. Gordon makes his right arm invisible by drawing over it a black cloak. He raises this arm away from and at the side of his body, holding in his right hand a com'mon paper mask or false face, such as the children get for their amusement at a cost of five or ten cents each. Then he gently moves the mask through the air, or ducks it or bobs it up and down, &c. This performance is repeated with variations, other masks arid other motions, for an hour or two. Some of the masks are a little dressed up by means of a white handkerchief thrown over a part or dangling from the lower end ; in such Bimplo ways is an old lady with a white cap, or a baby in a long dress, constructed ; a bride is got up by placing a gauze veil in front of the

mask. Gordon's repertoire of masks was _ extensive. He was able to bring up the spirits of men, women, and babies of all races of mankind.

From the front of the netting, the view, especially to the eyes of the devotees, was impressive. Gordon was a solemn great high priest, or head centre ; and in response to his incantation the spirits of the departed, as lifelike as if they were flesh and blood, appeared at his side. The materialised spirits were often recognised. It was a common thing to hear from the crowd of eager spectators sighs and sobs, and such expressions as "Is that you, Jane?" "Is it my grandmother?" "Is your name Smith ?" "It is my darling Bobbie ; are you happy ?" To all of which, through Gordon's skilful manipulation of the masks, came the appropriate responses. But Gordon's career as a materialiser lasted only a few weeks. One evening, in the midst of the performance, a gentleman of the audience leaped over an intervening table, dodged Gordon's confederate, dashed through the mosquito netting,, and had Gordon securely in his arms. Gordon was thus caught in' the act ; he held a mask in his hand, and others were taken from the folds of his robe and other places.,