WALKER, THE SPIRIT MEDIUM.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 769, 22 May 1877, Page 2

WALKER, THE SPIRIT MEDIUM.

The treatment of the 'Spiritualist, Walker,- by & portion of -the Auckland people, and by the Auckland, (city) Press, is calling forth severe • condemnation from men' of moderate opinions and,- calm judgment. The 'Otago Guardian' censures the Auckland Press agenti for the unfair advantage which' he has^taken of his position in sending condemnatory Press telegrams cbiicerhihg^alker to every place . in ' the ' "Colony " simply,'.' . says the ; - ' Guardian,' "because fee personally, or one pi* tyro, others, or ieven- a hundred others, do . not believe in Ms professions or are not" satisfied jwith his; works. Possibly $fcv. Walker was unable to tell, some of^tliia i .hearers ; by ' trance medium^ 42nd great-grandmother^.' was,-, and the : mode in which She' extracted the nutritious . elements' j.frqni: - a goose's . egg. There are some people ; stupid enough^to imagine that '■'. spiritualists ;•'• and; ■' trance inediiims ' should be able to do thisj and because they cannot they are condemned by them straightway as 'humbugs.'" . The Press agent in Auckland is the • Evening Star,' „and the tele grams sent by the agent 'dre of a piece with the , denunciations of Thursday evening contained in that very sensational- journal. . At the seance on! Friday night, we see that the Eev. Mr. Edger, who was the chairman on that occasion, and whose calm, unprejudiced conduct in reference to this matter throughout, ,does him infinite credit as, a : thoughtful, - dispassionate enquirer after truth, referred, at the close 'of .the, flee tare, to certain statements in the 'Star' newspaper, and demanded." that these statements should be proved. He declared that they had all originated ;in'fAujcli.lancl.' He invited all persons connected with these statements to a meeting, so that all persons might; be face "to faVe. " Mr; Walker Would lay down £50, to be distributed among the charitable institutions of Auckland, if these statements should be proved." If .they cannot, 'and Mr. ii'dger maintains they cannot, thehthe' Star 'has been guilty, not only 'of grossly abusing' its "position as Press n gent, but that also of a public journal.

A very difFerent treatment to tlmt-which he has met in Auckland did Mr. Walker receive at the hands ofthp Sydney Press. No, one will question the ability or the standing of the ' Sydney Morning Herald,' or the weight which justly attaches to its. opinions. The Sydney 'Morning Herald' is, in 'fact, 'among Colonial journals, the very antithesis of the Auckland .'Star.' Yefc we find a. journal of 'this importance dealing very differently with the phenomena exhibited by Mr Walker. We take from the* Mail,' the weekly edition of the 'Sydney Morning Herald,' the following: —

" A lecture of a rather remarkable churacter was delivered in the new Teiaperauco Hall, Pitl-stree!-, on Friday evening lo'sfc, by a jpung man named Thomas Walker, who claim.3 to bo a 'trance medium,' and controlled by spirits that take possession of hia organisation during his intervals of trance to make ci.nimunfcations to the material world. Mr. Walker is a young man, 19 years of r.gs, and arrived in Sydney a few weeks ago in company with Dr. Peebles, celcbrafed spirit uali&l fa lecturer, in. the Zealandia, from San Frar-cisco. ile is English by Idr'h, buf most of his trance lectures have been delivered in America. :He has had

but an indiff renb educaiion, except whut h\ has joined by observatio'u and travel, and tliut which he his dorired from the extriordinarj gills he chains to be. possessed of in bt-ing inspired, during his trance intervals, bj a preterrmrural ioteli^ei.ce Tiiure was u numerous uudiouce, t:ie hall biiug uucouiforlabty crowded. The Hon. Jjh«i Bowie WiNou occupied the chair. On the platform, among nihors, were Mr. Greville, St.P. ; :: Mr*. ..Johnston, ALP. j and Captain Kdwirds. The chiinuau iulroducu^ ilie leotiirar, and save a ftw particuUrs concoruiag h : a life and experience, an 1 mvitioiied that other menib rs of his family were poeSfisseri of the game siugulai* gift. Tue sulijaot oi" the looluro w^a icuosenby the uiidiunco in this way : Slips of paper were handed r.mnd i.o whoever desifeJ to nominate a subject, and upon these slips of paper tvere wrii.tea sue'hsubjec's a3 the nomiuators clioso. They were then handed to the chairman, who put each to the vote by show of hands. .This mode of selection gavo perfect salisfac ion to the audience, whose choice f el i upou the following subjects : 4 Life— its Nature and Origin ; the Origin of Man j his First and ; future Advancement ; Spirit — its Nature^ Life, and Progression.' -.The condition of trance in Mr. Walker was silf-induced during the singisig of a hymn by the audience, ond was brought* about in the space of a few minutes. His eyes were closed while ho remained in the trance. In all other respects ho appeared- to be in a normal, wakeful coudflion. Hating -been- juformel of the subject he wifs required to lecture upon, iio b^riefly invokedan inspiialio:: from the angels, and, at once entered upon bis lecture, speaking 1 throughout in tlio* flr3t person plural.Thus h^commenced by sayinav ' You have wisely selected a Subject, unless it be that you have chosen too much for one lecture. Nevertheless, we shull end-, avour to dp. the subject justice, and as far as we are able, give our opinions and views on the questions you have proposed for our consideration.' "

' Here followed a remarkable lecture, evincing considerable research and depth of thought, though of course it would be absurd to suppose that we are to accept the medium's dicta upon the subject he dealt with.

The report concludes as follows : —

* At. the . conclusion of the lecture, which lasted an hour all but a few minutes, • the medium Miawered a number of questions. In reply to Mr. Greville, he said that the spirit that bad spjkcn was that of John Kriowles, who had been a Jeeiurer while ia fcJie flesh, and had been dead five years. Dr. Brereton asked if the spirit had ever seen ' that substance or principle which some people called God ?' The reply was ' No.' Dr Brereton then asked ' How do you know there is such a substance?' The leoturer answered, ' Through its acts. We shall endeavour to explain. There are some things we can neither see nor feel, yet we know they exist from their effects— electricity for instance. We oannot taste, nor feel, nor 860 it ; yet we know it exists, because of its effects. So it is with that power you call God.' Mr A S Hamilton suggested that the medium should be allowed some reßt. Tbe lecturer quietly answered, ' When we have satisfied our audience we will retire.' Iu answer to another question a3 to hta definition of Q-od, the lecturer said that the substauce called Gk>d was the universe itself, and life is the easenca or soul of that universe. ' You,' addressing the questioned ' are a -part of that God.' -A gentleman in the body of the hall then pub -the question, \lsnot that "the pantheistic idea?' The answer was, 'It matters uot what- idea it is — it is oar idea.' Answering acme further remarks from Mr Hamilton, the lecturer said, 'We could not have given the lecture had we not the bran power of -the medium to enable us to do it.' Dr Brereton asked how it wa3) if he were a part of G-bd, that" lie could say he had never seen , God. : The, reply to this was, for the first time, in the; first person singular, and was as follows : * When I have seen the whole universe — when I have traversed infinitude itself— then I will tell you I have seen Uod ; but I will never be so inconsistent as to tell you I have seen God when I have only seen a part of Him.' After pronouncing a benediction, Mr Walker opened his eyes and resumed his seat. The lecture, was listened to throughout with the closest attention, aud all present appeared to be greatly interested by it,

For ourselves, wo shall not be content to accept the dictum of the Auckland . « Star ' or ' Herald ' against testimony such as this, and should Mr. AValker visit Waikato, as was his intention, he will find, we believe, what he has failed to find in Auckland — an intelligent public and fairp'lay.