The Spiritualist newspaper > No.245, May 4th 1877

IT
JL cl % jyig$| of anb of ^ptijttaaftow.
¥oi,u|vie Tejh, Kumber Eiqhteej^.
LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 4th. 1877.
CONDITIONS FAVOURING GOOD SPIRITUAL MANI¬
FESTATIONS.
A new journal. The Spiritual Scientist of Boston, U.S., has j;
stated that the conditions which we have published as j
favourable to the evolution of spiritual phenomena when the
power is weak, are exactly those which shut out hard sceptics, I
the persons whose adhesion would be of most value to
Spiritualism. Experience, on the'other hand, has convinced
us that the general want of precision in the evolution of the |
phenomena, shuts out those persons whose support would be |
a disgrace to our movement, but whom some Spiritualists are j
trying to drag in out of a weak-minded reverence for what
are in one sense 11 great names,” and out of an undignified
recognition of the claims of mountebank authorities.
With exceptional mediums nothing can stop the manifesta¬
tions. Mr. Woods, of The Times, and acute pressmen, bound
and, by means of screws, affixed Mrs. Fay most securely to
one of the pillars of the Crystal Palace, in a room which
some of the directors then and there declared Mrs. Fay had
never entered before ; yet the phenomena took place imme- j
diately with the utmost precision. But it is good that with j
the generality of mediums, especially those who are young |
and undeveloped, there is no such precision, and that the
phenomena can only be evolved when they are happy, when
they are surrounded by sparkling eyes and loving hearts, and
when the presence of the man who would persecute mediums j
to the death, is deadly poison to the manifestations. The
phenomena then prove to honest men and women the moral
degradation of those juggler authorities of science,who talk to [
public audiences about the imposture of people more honour- j
able than themselves. More dignity and self-respect are j
wanted among a large proportion of Spiritualists ; we ought !
one and all to look upon the entrance into our ranks of a j
scientific man who by misrepresenting truth abuses authority |
reposed in him by the uninformed public, as a thorough dis- j
grace to Spiritualism. He ought rather to be refused access [
to all spirit circles on the ground that he is not an honest j
man, and should be plainly told that he is morally unfit to
be recognised as having anything to do with Spiritualism.
The phenomena shut out exactly the men who ought to
be shut out, and the attempt to drag such persons in displays
lamentable intellectual weakness. The outcasts may be
highly intellectual in their grooves of thought, but they are
always rotten in their affections ; where the full blown roses
of true affections and truthful hearts should be, nothing but
dusty rags can be found in their moral natures. It is more
easy for such people to believe in imposition on the part of
their most intimate friends, than to accept as genuine
abnormal phenomena depending to any extent upon their
testimony, and the manifestations fortunately often occur, as if
some great and good power designedly made human truth and
honour an essential link in the chain of evidence. Were
this not so, Spiritualism would be all physics and no religion.
Men ought only to be permitted to enter the higher courts of
heaven when they have attained that true love for each other
which blushes and burns only in celestial climes, and !
permits the entrance of no evil thought. Into that atmo- j
sphere those who slander their neighbours are not j
permitted to enter; their presence would be poison. The j
attempt to push them in is an undignified metaphysical |
and moral error.
Confccius wrote—“ When one cultivates to the utmost the moral j
principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principles of j
reciprocity, he is not far from the true path. What you do not like when
done to yourself do not do to others; serve your father as you require j
your son to serve you; serve your elder brother as you would require j
your younger brother to serve you; set the example in behaving to a j
fdend as you would require him behave to you.”
JOSEPH WOLFF’S VISIONS.
Many will remember Dr. Joseph Wolff, the ardent Jewish
| convert to Christianity, the energetic preacher in a dozen
] different languages, deeply skilled in Talmudical and Oriental
I learning, the undaunted missionary who often and often
j carried his life in his hand amongst fierce and fanatical tribes,
| and who, when neither the English nor the Indian Govern-
| ment considered it politic to send a mission to Bokhara to
| ascertain the fate of Stoddart and Conolly, and endeavour, if
| not too late, to rescue them, went there himself, alone and
single handed, through a thousand perils, faced the bloody
| and terrible Amir in his then inaccessible capital, and learnt
| that the Englishmen had been foully murdered. Few, how-
| ever, are aware that this remarkable man was a powerful
! medium. At that time the meaning and management of
mediums was not understood, and though there are some
j strange stories current about him in the far East, we are
| not aware that the fact has been previously brought forward,
or is even mentioned in his published biography, a very
entertaining book dictated by himself.
Dr. Wolff firmly believed in diabolical possession; it had
| been to him a familiar experience in Eastern countries, and
! he laid claim to the power of casting out devils. There was
| an acrimonious controversy that once excited much attention
| in India, but is now forgotten, between him and Lieut. Burns
I on this subject, and Dr. Wolff issued the following extra-
I ordinary letter, which seems worth reproducing without any
comment from ourselves at least. It is dated “ Hyderabad,
June 4th, 1833,” and addressed “ to the Public in India —
11 Dear Friends,—Having now taken leave, I hope for ever,
from Mr. Burns, I would consider myself to be dishonest by
not laying before you the whole of the circumstances to which
Mr. Burns alludes, with regard to my frequently casting out
! devils. I told him the following fact. In the year 1828
when I left with my wife the city of Cairo for Jerusalem,
S one night when sitting in my tent, and the Arabs near the
I fire, one of them, Hag Alii by name, was talking. Whilst
; he was talking a horrid voice came out of him—it was like
i the voice of the tormented spirits in hell. I asked the Arabs,
| 4 What is this?’ They replied 4 the devil!’ My wife trembled
; all over. One of the Arabs said to the devil, 4 In the name
! of Mohammed, the Prophet of God, be silent.’
“Devil: ll don’t know Mohammed; Mohammed is a
pig!’
il Myself (to the Devil): 4 In the name of Jesus be
silent! ’
44 Devil: 4 Who is near me ? Is Elijah near me ?’
44 Myself: 4 In the name of Jesus be silent!’—(and the devil
was silent).
44 The same circumstance happened the second night, and 1
silenced him again with the name of Jesus, but as we found
out that the Arab was a great blasphemer and profligate, I
| made not use of the name of Jesus the third night; but Ahmed,
j a Bedouin, who became through this circumstance a believer,
j made use of the name of Jesus, and the devil was silenced.
44 With regard to my one interview with Christ at Bokhara,
it is as follows. When my mind one evening was very much
cast down, having been accused as a Russian spy, I was
I weeping, when suddenly a splendour filled my room, and a
| voice thundered in my ears, 4 Jesus enters ! ’ I saw sud-
! denly Jesus upon a throne, surrounded by little children,
| mercifully and kindly looking at them. I fell down and
| worshipped, and the vision disappeared! This is the one
j instance I mentioned to Burns. But now one similar
j instance more, which I never mentioned to Mr. Burns.
44 When arriving at Malta, for the fifth time, in the
I Lazaretto from Macedonia, my mind was very much cast