The Spiritualist newspaper > No.142, May 14th 1875

Mat 14, 1875.
THE SPIRITUALIST.
233
volumes. We must remember that a library is expected to
suit and supply all legitimate tastes.
You have all of you heard of the bazaar that it is proposed
to hold, and that we hope and expect from the proceeds
thereof to do a good deal in the way of furnishing this house;
for of course there is much that yet remains to be done.
However, it does not do to count our chickens before they are
hatched, and I call upon all who have the interests of our
Association at heart to lend us their willing co-operation to
make the bazaar what I trust it will be—a genuine success.
Ere I conclude, I would remedy an omission I have made,
and include in the vote of thanks that I shall propose the
name of our trusty ally, Mr. Harrison. If I am right, I believe
Mr. Harrison was among the first, if not the first, to propose
the establishment of an association, and from that hour to
this he has given us the benefit of his council and active
co-operation. I beg to move, therefore, ladies and gentlemen,
that—“ The thanks of this Association be cordially tendered to
the guarantors, to Mr. Blackburn, to the members of our Offices
Committee, and to Mr. W. H. Harrison.”
Mr. H. D. Jenoken seconded the vote of thanks, saying
that he quite endorsed the views of Mr. Martin Smith about
the Association, and of the work which Mr. Harrison had
done for the movement. He added that Mr. Harrison had all
along done that with the Spiritualist which others had done
in working for the Association, that is to say, he had regarded
the public interests of the cause itself, unbiassed by any
minor or unworthy motives. The Spiritualist was a really
scientific and well-managed paper, conducted upon upright
principles, so that its utterances carried weight; and he
believed that it would continue to gain more and more the
public confidence and appreciation it deserved.
The votes of thanks were then passed with acclamation.
Mr. Martin Smith then said—I have nothing more to say,
except to ask you all to join with me in invoking upon this
our home the blessing of our Father in heaven.
This house-warming, or inaugural meeting of members and
friends in the new home of the National Association was in
every respect a marked success, and the danger of overcrowd¬
ing was effectually prevented. The excellent quality of the
musical performances, sustained by the Misses Withall, Miss
Malvina Claxton, Miss Sexton, Mrs. E. Corner, and Mrs.
Arthur Eislingbury, attracted a large number of visitors into
the room set apart for the purpose, and the finest of the fine
arts was both well represented and well appreciated on this
occasion.
A fine set of spirit photographs of a large size, by Buguet,
was exhibited in the Reading-room. The sitters are Mrs.
Fay, the Comte de Bullet, and M. le Baron Du Potet. The
celebrated picture of the Comte de Bullet, with the double of
his sister living in America, was a special feature of interest.
Miss Houghton exhibited two of her spirit-drawings.
GOSWELL HALL SUNDAY SERVICES.
These Sunday evening services in London have been con¬
tinued by Dr. Sexton, and have attracted a considerable num¬
ber of the outside public. On the 2nd inst., Dr. Sexton de¬
livered an able discourse on “Science and Religion.’* He
commenced by enlarging at considerable length upon the
mysteries of nature, dwelling upon the great problems which
necessarily press themselves upon the attention of man, both
in regard to the external universe, his own individuality, and
the relationship that exists between the two. He described
the various branches of knowledge, pointed out the lines by
which they were separated from each other, and the point
where they overlapped. He then enlarged on the advantages
of science, and pointed out what he conceived to be its true
and legitimate functions. The predominance of law in the
physical universe was next dwelt upon, and the nature of law
and the extent of its domain accurately described. Dr.
Sexton enlarged at some length on the fact that it was im¬
possible to contemplate the phenomena of nature anywhere
without being driven irresistibly to the conclusion that the
principle of causation leads up to a first cause. Even Herbert
Spencer had been compelled to acknowledge this. The
scientific speculations of modern times were next discussed,
such as the origin of matter, the origination of living beings,
and the evolution of mind. Tyndall’s notion that the phe¬
nomena of the human mind, emotion, intellect, and will were
“ once latent in a fiery cloud” was severely dealt with. Dr.
Sexton then proceeded to discuss the limits of theology, de¬
scribing the concession made to science with regard to the
shape of the earth, the age of the world, the antiquity of man,
and other points. The province of religion was described at
some length, in which it was shown that science and theology
had each their respective domains, and need not intrench one
upon the other. The discourse was well received, and a gene¬
ral wish expressed that it should be published.
Last Sunday evening a discourse was delivered by the Rev.
F. R. Young, minister of the Free Christian Church, Swindon,
on the “Ascension of Christ; its significance and reality.”
This was an able lecture from Mr. Young’s standpoint, who
maintained the reality of the Ascension, holding it to be a
natural and necessary sequence of the resurrection.
On Sunday next Dr. Sexton will deliver a discourse entitled
“ An Impartial Review of the Revival Movement of Messrs,
Moody and Sankey.”
MR. COLEMAN ON PROFESSOR MAPES’S ADYOCACY
OF SPIRITUALISM.
Last Sunday night, Mr. Benjamin Coleman, who presided
at the usual weekly lecture at the Cavendish Rooms by Mrs.
Tappan, said—
Ladies and Gentlemen,—I will not pursue the usual routine
generally observed at these meetings by reading a chapter
from the Bible. Not, however, from any disrespect for that
ancient record, which, from my point of view, 1 hold in high
regard as a truthful narrative, and especially in those passages
which scepticism rejects, the working of the so-called miracles,
and which Christians erroneously believe were limited to the
Apostolic age, for they are occurring around us now, and I
have witnessed many of them. My mind has become by these
evidences satisfied that the two worlds—the visible and the
invisible, or the world of spirits—are very closely united, and
that the men and women who occupy the latter are ever busy
with mundane affairs, and that they, under the Almighty’s
influence, have power to work what are called miracles.
In corroboration of this belief, I point to the instance before
you. This delicately-framed woman is inspired by a band of
spirits—men of great learning who have lived on earth—to
speak on subjects the most abstruse (which she can never have
studied) with a power and eloquence rarely heard. This I
think miraculous, and proves that the gifts of the Spirit,
spoken of by St. Paul, are given to some in these latter days.
Mrs. Tappan’s discourse this evening will be given under
the control of Professor Mapes, a well-known chemist, and a
few words respecting our interviews may not be unacceptable
to you.
I met him on my visit to New York in 1861, introduced by
Judge Edmunds, who said, “ James Mapes is one of the most
enlightened men of this country,” and so I found him.
In the course of conversation he informed me that he
commenced his investigations in Spiritualism as a decided
sceptic, and after five years of constant examination he was
forced by overwhelming evidence to yield, and in the last con¬
versation I had with him he said—
“ If, after making every allowance for the incongruities, false
theories, fanaticism, and the common errors attributed to
Spiritualism, only ten per cent, of the whole should prove pure
and impregnable as I have found it, it is still as sound a
science as chemistry was at the beginning of this century,
which has thrown aside 90 per cent, of the teachings then
received as truth.”
In a conversation which Professor Mapes had at that time
with a friend to whom I introduced him, he startled my friend
with what he considered a very profound thought, pertaining
to the very subject of the discourse of this evening. I was
not present, and I do not know the nature of their conversa¬
tion, but it would be highly interesting if the spirit of James
Mapes should inspire this gifted lady to speak of that conver¬
sation, since it belongs, I am told, to “ Spiritual Chemistry,”
the subject of this evening’s discourse; and I therefore venture,
as I have been specially invited to preside on this occasion, to
express a hope that we may be gratified in that respect.
Mrs. Tappan then proceeded with her discourse.
Mb. Gledstanes is about to leave Paris, and to take up
his residence in Bordeaux, where he will remain permanently,