< About Spiritualism (continued from unknown page) >
be expert in all such trickeries. We are likewise ready to admit that in saying as he did that “his article would only confirm the more the Spiritualists in their belief” (and he ought to have added, “convince no one else”), Dr. Beard has proved himself to be a greater “prophetic medium” than any other in this country!
H. P. Blavatsky.
23 Irving Place.
So much in defence of phenomena, as to whether these Spirits are ghosts is another question. H.P.B.
Letter from an Idiotic Spiritualist <WANTED>
Dr. Beard and the Eddys <WANTED>
More spiritual wonders
Eddy Homestead, Rutland Co., Vt., Oct. 16.--The séance began, as usual, with Honto. The only novel thing she did was to smoke a pipe, which was given her by Mr. Olcott for the occasion; Mr. Horatio Eddy lit it and passed it over to her. She smoked it for about a minute, the light from the bowl making her dark skin distinctly visible. Then, like a true Indian, she desired that all the spectators should smoke the same pipe, handing it to Madame Blowtskey, who was standing near her. The Madame is fond of smoking and kept the pipe, at which tho girl showed signs of displeasure and was about to retire to the cabinet, when some one suggested that she wanted the pipe passed around. Then she smiled and bowed. The pipe went round.
A few minutes after Honto retired Mrs. Eaton, the leading female spirit, requested Mr. Pritchard, who occupied his chair on the stage, to change his seat, with his back to the cabinet, and have another chair placed by his side, which meant of course that nobody would sit in it. At the same time she said, “ It’s a shade too light.” The lamp was turned down a little lower. Mr. Pritchard’s mother then came out, looking life-like. She took a seat beside her son, and-conversed with him for several minutes. By request, Mr. Pritchard then introduced his mother to the audience, both standing up by the railing. He said, “ Ladies and gentlemen, this is my mother, who passed away about fourteen years ago. You can see the difference in our height … feet five, while she is about five feet.” Mrs. Pritchard bowed and smiled when introduced, but said nothing, although she is able to talk distinctly. She very much resembles her daughter now living in Albany.
Mrs. Pritchard was followed by Mrs. Phillips, the mother of Mr. H. A. Phillips ; then came Mr. Brown’s mother, followed by the German and his niece, Mrs. Lenzberg’s brother and daughter, who speak German.
Mr. Brown, the leading spirit, here appeared at the threshold of the cabinet and again evinced his displeasure. He made some reference to “ money making.” The séance then closed, Mrs. Eaton saying, “ Mr. Brown will have his way, and as he is generally right I don’t see why he should not have it. I wish you all a very good night.” The courtesy was returned, as is the case every night a stance is held.
Prof. Alanson Hobbs of Ararat, Pa., has been here for several days. He is a spiritual phrenologist, being able, he says, to give a chart of the living and the dead. The gentleman is not an educated man. He claims to have a learned spiritual guide who furnishes charts of the inhabitants of the spirit land. He rarely touches the head of an individual while making out the chart, the spirit giving him the “ impression.” He says earth life men do not exceed 13½ degrees, but that in spirit life they can reach 28, the learning by experience just as people learn on earth. He says that there are spirits from other planets that far exceed those from our own, almost doubling them in degrees. Prof. Hobbs has raised a large family and never lost a child, always doctoring them by spirit impression.
To test his powers I requested him to give me a chart of Bacon and Shakespeare, and at the same time to find out which of them was the author of the great plays. He already had a chart of Shakespeare with a range of 22 degrees. To my surprise I found that he had nvever heard of Lord Bacon, and consequently knew nothing about the contention as to the authorship of the plays. He told me, however, that he could ascertain about Bacon, but that it would take a little time. He came to me in a few hours and said the that he could give me the figures, saying, “ My, the man stands 26 degrees.” He says that while Bacon stands higher in intellect than Shakespeare, Shakespeare is the author of the plays in writing which he was assisted and directed by spirit power.
He gave me, in addition to Bacon and Shakespeare, the charts of Mayflower, the Italian girl, who has been in the spirit land 104 years. George Dix, who has been there about forty years ; and Mrs. Eddy (mother of the Eddys), who has been dead about two years. Bacon and Shakespeare having been contemporary are nearly on an equal footing, so far as progress in the spirit land is concerned. The other three vary. The following table gives the figures in
| Bacon | Shakespeare | Mayflower | Geo.Dix | Mrs.Eddy | |
| Anrativeness | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4½ | 4½ |
| Philoprogenenitiveness | 13 | 10½ | 12 | 11 | 6 |
| Asihesiveness | 14 | 11½ | 11 | 12 | 4 |
| Inhabitiveness | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4½ | 6 |
| ...ity | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| Vitativeness | 11 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7 |
| Combativeness | 9 | 9½ | 4 | 7 | ??? |
| Destructiveness | 7 | 2 | 2½ | 5 | ??? |
| Alimentativeness | 4 | 3 | 4 | ??? | ??? |
| Acquisitiveness | 14 | 10½ | 8 | ??? | ??? |
| Secretiveness | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2½ | ??? |
| Cuntlousness | 6 | 3½ | 4 | 4½ | ??? |
| Approbativeness | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5½ | ??? |
| Self-esteem | 15 | 8 | 7 | 10½ | 2 |
| Firminess | 14 | 9½ | 6 | 8 | 3 |
| Conscientivesness | 21 | 15 | 10½ | 15 | 7 |
| ??? | 13½ | 11 | 7 | 8½ | 5 |
| ??? | 21 | 21 | 17 | 10 | 10 |
| V... | 20 | 18 | 12 | 11½ | 4 |
| Benev... | 22 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 7 |
| Constructiveness | 25 | 22 | 15 | 15 | 8 |
| Ideality | 22 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 7 |
| Supl..ity | 26 | 23 | 10 | 16 | 6½ |
| Inntation | 16 | 21 | 9 | 10 | 6 |
| Mirinfulness | 23 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 4 |
| Individuality | 15 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| Forin | 21 | 22½ | 13 | 9 | 5½ |
| Size | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Weight | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3½ |
| Color | 15 | 10½ | 9 | 9 | 5 |
| Order | 21 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 4 |
| Calculation | 28 | 22 | 11 | ??? | 4 |
| Sociability | 5 | 19 | 10 | 12 | 8 |
| Locality | 15 | 11½ | 8 | 9½ | 3½ |
| Eventuality | 23 | 12½ | 12 | 10 | 4½ |
| Time | 9 | 9½ | 7 | 8½ | 6 |
| Tone | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5½ |
| Language | 18 | 14 | 12 | 8½ | 3 |
| Causality | 25 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 7 |
| Comparison | 26 | 17½ | 15 | 11 | 5 |
| Agreesoliness | 6 | 4½ | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Humannature | 25 | 13½ | 10 | 11 | 4 |
| Qualityofmind | 26 | 22 | 16 | 16 | 14 |
W. H. O.
Some Interesting Passages About The Reigning Sensation–The Eddys and Brown
<The Daily Graphic of November 1874>
Brown, “ the mind-reader,” visited the Eddys in Vermont, and thus relates his experiences in the New Haven Palladium :
I passed out with the friend who accompanied me, and when he asked me what I thought of it, I told him I thought it all a humbug, and believed that the so-called spirits got in through the little window in the closet. The next morning I took a ladder, and climbed up the window from the outside. (The hall is in the second story). I found that the little square window had been carefully covered with mosquito bar, the edgings and crossings of which had been thoroughly sealed with sealing-wax, and stamped with the seal-ring of Colonel Olcott. The Daily